Thoughts while wishing Doc Holliday’s was at the end of the bike lane at Christopher…
1. The intersection at 9th Street and Broadway can be tricky for cyclists and drivers alike. At the crossing, 9th becomes two lanes, with neither having directional assignments (straight or left turn). Due to this, about half of the cars in the left lane end up merging on to the right lane, instead of waiting for the car in front of it to turn. Cyclists in the bike lane, which is on the left side of the street, also have to merge, sometimes requiring them to do so between turning traffic and merging cars. It seems like I bring up the pattern from the end of Bleecker in every post these days, but wouldn’t it make sense here?
9th Street at Broadway: a tough merge can await cyclists.
2. The 6th Avenue & Greenwich Avenue intersections (where 9th becomes Christopher) is another tricky one. As you approach 6th, the bike lane is on the left side of the road. Between 6th and Greenwich, there the bike lane moves to the right side, so by the time you are past Greenwich, you are on the right side of the road. This caused huge headaches for many cyclists, especially if traffic was already moving when they hit the crossing.
At one point, another cyclist and myself came to the intersection at the same time. He stayed on the left hand side of the road through both intersections and on to Christopher. I made the merge the way it was designed. We ended up on opposite sides of Christopher, causing the cars to have to squeeze. The problem here: my move felt much less safe and the other rider moved much more intuitively—not a sign of good planning.
Wouldn’t it make sense to switch the parking and bike lanes on Christopher, so the cyclist stays on one side the entire time? I realize that it will eventually have to shift (Christopher becomes a 2-way later on), but surely there are safer ways to pull it off, no?
9th Street at 6th Avenue: The bike lane switches from the left to right side.
9th Street at 6th Avenue: if traffic is moving when the cyclist arrives, the merge can be a tricky one.
3. And since things usually come in threes, one last tricky intersection: the begninning of 9th Street at Avenue A, which has 2-way traffic at that point. Cyclists turning right on to 9th have to merge pass both lanes of turning traffic to reach the cycle lane on the left hand side. Cyclists turning left on to 9th are usually starting on the outermost portion of Avenue A (unless they get there at a red light and use the bike box), and have to merge past straight traffic on A, and in to the left turn traffic to hit 9th. It is not the easiest way of doing things. Any ideas on how to improve this?
9th Street at Avenue A: getting on the bike lane can require merging past buses or multiple lanes of traffic.
4. There is nothing like a great bike flock to end a ride.
A bike flock forms on Christopher.
