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A proposed redesign of one of the Upper West Side’s busiest crosstown corridors is drawing organized pushback, with a newly formed coalition now mobilizing neighbors ahead of a Community Board 7 vote scheduled for May 5.
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The group, calling itself the “No 72nd Street Bike Lane Coalition,” has launched a petition and is planning a community rally for May 2 at 10 a.m. at West 72nd Street and Broadway. Organizers say they have invited elected officials, Community Board 7 members, and representatives from the NYC Department of Transportation to hear directly from residents before the board’s vote.Here’s the flyer they sent us:
At issue is a DOT plan, announced last week, that would install a two-way, parking-protected bike lane along the north curb of West 72nd Street from west to east. The coalition’s concerns center on several points. Organizers argue that older residents and people with limited mobility could face new obstacles reaching cars and taxis, since some pickups and drop-offs would require crossing an active bidirectional bike lane. The group has also raised the possibility that the corridor could draw high-speed e-bike delivery traffic, pointing to conditions along the Amsterdam Avenue bike lane as a comparison.
The coalition further contends that reducing vehicle traffic to a single lane in each direction could worsen congestion, complicate deliveries for local merchants, and create new points of conflict among cyclists, buses, delivery vehicles, and pedestrians.
On the petition page hosted at Change.org, which had gathered 119 signatures as of publication, signers describe the proposal as a threat to traffic flow, public safety, local businesses, and neighborhood accessibility, and ask city officials to reconsider or modify the plan with additional community input.
Individual commenters on the petition have offered a range of objections. One signer, identified as Mary, wrote that cyclists frequently ignore traffic signals and that the lane would create additional risk for pedestrians. Another, identified as Giovanna, wrote that the design would be difficult for older residents, parents with strollers, and wheelchair users, and suggested 79th Street as an alternative because it has fewer storefronts.
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DOT has said the 72nd Street proposal includes pedestrian safety measures as well, among them painted curb extensions, signal changes separating walking and cycling phases, and a new bus boarding island at Central Park West. The agency has also pointed to citywide data showing that protected bike lanes reduce cyclist injury risk and pedestrian deaths and serious injuries.Community Board 7 is scheduled to vote on the proposal on May 5. The rally is set for three days earlier, on May 2.
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