Cars To Protect Cyclists on 9th Ave.

Messengers aren't the issue so much on 9th Ave as are the restaurant deliveries who either ride on the sidewalk (in fear of the evening rush to the tunnel) or squeezed between parked and crawling cars.

If the messengers want to risk riding in traffic when they have a dedicated lane, there is nobody to blame but themselves.

One can wear open headphones and hear their music and external noises.

whatever....

bike riders are supposed to obey traffic laws. They simple do not. Before giving them bike lanes, a little civic responsibility needs to be emaphsized.

My primary mode of transportation is walking, so I have ample opportunity to observe the situation up close: on a regular basis, I see cyclists speeding through red lights, going the wrong way down one way streets, and generally coming out of nowhere, getting thisclose to hitting terrified pedestrians about to cross the street.

P.S. wearing earphones while cycling should be illegal. The i-tards on foot are annoying enough, but it gets dangerous when they have wheels.

Hey Interlard, #16, What color is the sky on your planet?

And how many people will use ths? maybe the regular commuters, but surely not messengers.

I think everyone might be over-worrying about the left turn scenario. The "pedestrian island" is there to give enough of a parked-car-free buffer so cyclists and cars can both see each other pretty much the same as they can now.

jeez, who knew New Yorkers were such namby-pamby defeatists.

I hope this idea grows. But I'm with many of the commenters: until the avenues are car-free, it's just too dangerous. Cars turning left will mow down cyclists in droves. Pedestrians will wanter absent-mindedly into the bike lane and bikes will still never stop at red lights.

I'd like to see most avenues converted to parks. Only a few roads for delivery & emergency vehicles. Pedicabs and dedicated bike lanes. Manhattan is so tiny you could bike all over it all day and not be tired.

This will only work if the cops enforce the law. However, at this point, cops enforcing any law that protects cyclists seems unlikely.

I have the same concern as VanessaNYC for both cyclists and pedestrians. With the parking lane packed its going to make cyclists invisible to cars as they drive along and its going to block pedestrians from view forcing them to enter the bike lane and buffer lane to look around the wall of cars.

You're going to get a lot of cyclist/pedestrian conflict at the corners and a lot of problems with cars making left turns.

If they end the parking lane considerably before the intersection that might help (might... if people would only park where they're allowed... yeah wishful thinking). If you have a SUV or truck at the end of the lane, the pedestrian refuge isn't going to provide enough visiblity.

Once again Europe leads the way in innovative city planning. It's a great idea, just wish it'd be more than a few blocks...nevertheless, I'll take what I can get.

I think this is an excellent idea! But how will cyclists turn right and cars turn left? Will there be traffic signals to control that?

""too little, too late" Ha! I knew the bike nazis would explode....the crutch of hate is tough to shed."

Do you expect people to take that seriously? When so much of this city favors vehicles only, and we get something we've needed for a long time, that's all you can say?

I think this is great. But hearing the city call this "the street of the future" makes we wonder if this IS in fact New York's first step towards a car-free avenue. Until THAT day arrives I still don't believe 7 blocks is much to talk about.

I'm wondering if the cars turning left will see the cyclists - the view of the cyclists be blocked by the parked cars. Will the cars turning left hit the cyclists going straight? Just a thought. Maybe I'm missing something.

exaggerate much, cool? Presumably, if this works there's a chance to expand this type of bike lane.

"too little, too late" Ha! I knew the bike nazis would explode....the crutch of hate is tough to shed.

While this is good news, I'm with #3 in that it's too little, too late.

It's not like NYC is a rustic area in the middle of nowhere that you need as many cars as there are....

When the lane expands more than seven blocks and is on the east side instead of the far west, then I might applaud. The bigger issue is still congestion pricing and getting more cars off the road in New York City. Until that happens, cyclists will always be in danger (rude or not, #2) and our City's air will continue to be a stinky mess.

Awesome! This should solve a lot of issues in terms of rude cyclists and rude motorists.

Wow, this is awesome (if it actually does come to fruition, that is!)!