Eyes on the Street: Clinton Street’s New Bikeway

A new two-way bikeway is under construction to provide a connection between the Williamsburg Bridge and the East River Greenway.

The route along Clinton Street extends the existing two-way protected bike lane between Delancey and Grand an additional five blocks to South Street, where it connects to the waterfront bike path beneath the FDR Drive.

The waterfront greenway, which runs along South Street, will also be getting an upgrade: concrete barriers to protect greenway users from cars and trucks. DOT says the installation schedule for this component of the project is still being determined.

Changes are already underway, with new striping being installed on Clinton Street. The bikeway will run along Clinton’s west curb, which will no longer have parking. On the east curb, angled parking will be striped to squeeze in more spaces. There will be all of two fewer parking spaces when all is said and done.

Together with painted curb extensions at corners, the angled parking will help narrow the car lanes to reduce speeding.

Changes on Clinton Street should be complete next month, DOT said.

The plan was supported by Community Board 3 in April [PDF]. The board also asked DOT for additional traffic signals and a mid-block crosswalk on Clinton between Grand and East Broadway. Those are not included in this plan.

DOT had also proposed converting Rutgers Street to one-way southbound operation, but that was not supported by CB 3 [PDF]. Update: DOT says it is not moving forward this portion of the project, and will consider other possible changes after work is complete on Clinton and South streets.