Dyckman St. Bike Lane Plan Revived After Opposition

INWOOD, NY — A plan to construct a bike lane on a busy stretch of Dyckman Street is to be revived after it failed to get approval from the local community board last year following backlash from some local business owners.

The proposed bike lane, which would stretch from Broadway to Nagle Avenue, would be part of an overall plan to calm traffic, enhance pedestrian safety and improve the bike network in Inwood, according to the Department of Transportation.

The plan will be discussed Thursday night at a public workshop, where neighborhood residents will be able to grill DOT officials. City officials will use the feedback from Thursday night's meeting to draw up an updated bike lane plan to be presented to the community in June, a DOT spokeswoman told Patch.

"We plan to conduct a workshop to this community about bike lanes and pedestrian improvements on Dyckman St between Broadway and Nagle Street and work with the community to come up with a design solution for the stretch of Dyckman St where the community previously expressed concerns," the spokeswoman said.

The initial proposal faced resistance from Dyckman street business owners, who argued that it would take parking spaces away from the street. Motorists also feared that the bike lane would make it harder for cars to access the street.

The DOT's initial plan did not propose eliminating any street-side parking on Dyckman Street. Instead, it suggested removing one lane of car traffic in each direction on Dyckman street and installing a bike lane located between the remaining travel lane and curbside parking.

Currently there is no bike safety infrastructure on Dyckman Street between Broadway and Nagle Avenue.

The plan also called for the installation of left turn lanes on Dyckman Street and the creation of two pedestrian safety islands on the intersections of Dyckman Street and Vermileya and Post avenues.

Patch reached out to the Department of Transportation about Thursday's presentation. This article will be updated if the department's responds.

Community Board 12 approved part of the DOT plan to install a parking-protected bike lane on Dyckman Street between Nagle and 10th avenues. City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, who represents Inwood, celebrated the approval and turned his attention toward getting a plan passed for the rest of Dyckman Street.

"I look forward to working out the concerns of the community board and other stakeholders so that we can move the full project forward as soon as possible, including from Broadway to Nagle," Rodriguez said in December.

Thursday night's workshop will be held at 6 p.m. at PS 5, located on 10th Avenue and Dyckman Street.

Photo courtesy of Department of Transportation