Overview
- The Department of Transportation released the updated design on Sept. 17 that removes curbside parking and reduces car travel from three lanes to two lanes in each direction to make room for a two-way protected bike lane next to an expanded median.
- The project covers 11 blocks of Park Avenue between East 46th and East 57th streets and shows medians rebuilt as planted, seated and flexible public spaces for walking, sitting and small events.
- City officials say the street work will take place during the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $1.7 billion rehabilitation of the Grand Central train shed, a job that requires ripping up the roadway and medians, but the MTA has not set a construction schedule.
- Midtown community boards and elected officials pushed DOT to move the bike lane next to the median and publicly praised the revisions, while street-safety advocates say the plan falls short and want more car-lane removals and some cross-street closures.
- Key implementation details remain unresolved, including exact construction phasing, traffic mitigation, and intersection treatments, and those choices will determine how much the redesign changes car capacity and street safety for pedestrians and cyclists.