Dyckman Street Bike Lanes Spared Amid Backlash, DOT Says

INWOOD, NY — The city Department of Transportation will not give in to pressure from elected officials to remove newly-implemented protected bike lanes on Dyckman Street, but will study alternative solutions to address local business' objections to the new biking infrastructure, department representatives said Tuesday night during a public hearing.

Because the new protected bike lanes on Dyckman Street from Broadway to Nagle Avenues were implemented in December, not enough time has passed to determine whether complaints about the lanes are backed up by data, DOT representatives said Tuesday.

In the meantime, the DOT will make several short-term fixes to improve traffic flow on the busy Inwood street while keeping the bike lanes. These fixes include updating signal timing, modifying the lanes to create a buffer between parked cars and traffic, creating loading zones and staggering loading zone hours and extending meter hours to 10 p.m., DOT officials said. The department will also continue to work with the NYPD to increase enforcement on Dyckman Street.

In the months following the bike lanes' arrival, local business owners have called for their removal. Bike lane opponents claim that Dyckman Street is more congested than ever, which has hurt sales and is preventing emergency vehicles from accessing the street.

Jose Moronta, whose family owns a few businesses on the street, described the lanes as a "logistical nightmare and said Tuesday that it is disheartening that small businesses concerns about the lanes were overlooked.

Another business owner took a stronger approach Tuesday night, saying that if emergency vehicles can't pass through Dyckman Street there will be blood on the hands of the city DOT and the local community board.

Both business owners said they "weren't against bikes," but at the same time don't support a lane on Dyckman Street.

Department of Transportation officials said Tuesday that traffic times got worse on Dyckman Street immediately after the bike lanes were implemented, but data shows that times have actually improved as motorists have become used to the new street layout.

Ultimately, the bike lanes are intended to increase safety of Dyckman Street, DOT officials said. There were 242 traffic-related injuries on Dyckman Street between 2012 and 2016, officials said. Of those injuries, eight pedestrians, one cyclist and three motor vehicle passengers were seriously hurt. Protected bike lans have proved to reduce traffic injuries to all street users by as much as 15 percent, DOT officials said Tuesday.

An FDNY battalion chief also addressed concerns about emergency vehicles' inability to access Dyckman Street. The chief said the FDNY did not have data, but did say that Dyckman Street's new traffic pattern has delayed vehicles when motorists are double parked.

Representatives for a number of elected officials also spoke out against the bike lanes Tuesday night. Both Borough President Gale Brewer and Congressman Adriano Espaillat have previously advocated for the removal of the lanes due to congestion problems on the street, but on Tuesday the tone of the criticism was different.

Many elected officials' representatives read statements implying that the bike lanes were not built to serve Inwood's longtime residents. In a May 2018 public hearing, Espaillat staffer Laurie Tobias-Cohen said: "The Dominican community that makes its home east of Broadway is not actually a cycling community."

"One has to wonder who DOT had in mind with this project," Laurie Tobias-Cohen a community liaison for Espaillat said Tuesday night. "The Dominican community that makes its home east of Broadway is not actually a cycling community."

Angel Vasquez, the chief of staff for State Senator Marisol Alcantara, also said "The Upper Manhattan community is one that takes the subway, rides the buses and uses their cars. Quite frankly we do not bicycle."

This statement came after Vasquez claimed the Senator recognizes biking as a positive and healthy mode of transportation.

Supporters of the bike lane — who outnumbered detractors during the public comment section of Tuesday's meeting — said that statements made on behalf of elected officials made them feel alienated from the community they live in.

Lifelong Inwood resident Omar Tejada said Tuesday night that he was "ashamed and disappointed" that elected officials generalized the community as a non-biking community. Tejada also said that the bike lane has helped alleviate the hazard of persistent double parking on Dyckman Street and called for a solution that would please both businesses and bikers.

Many bicyclists also said they feel more confident traveling through Inwood — a neighborhood with little biking safety — now that they have safe passage through Dyckman street.

"I don't have to fell as aggressive trying to save my own life when I ride on Dyckman Street," Dyckman Street resident Caroline McLoughlin said Tuesday. "It's made it much, much safer."

Community Board 12 — which represents the Washington Heights and Inwood neighborhoods — will draft a new resolution on the bike lane issue during its May 15 executive committee meeting. That resolution will be voted on during a full board meeting on May 22.

The Department of Transportation is expected to update the Inwood community on long-term solutions for Dyckman Street in the fall, officials said Tuesday.