Overview
- The DOT's West 72nd Street plan, presented to Community Board 7 on Tuesday, would cut four car lanes to two and add a parking-protected, two-way bike lane on the north side.
- The CB7 transportation committee backed the redesign 7–2, and DOT officials said community board votes are advisory and the project will advance.
- Design elements include concrete bus boarding islands, pedestrian islands, new loading zones, a center turn bay, and turn restrictions with separate signals to reduce conflicts.
- The bikeway would extend along Riverside Boulevard to West 68th Street for a direct link to the Hudson River Greenway, with a parking lane removed on those blocks.
- Construction could begin in late spring or early summer, as debate focuses on deliveries, parking and senior access, and DOT cites crash reductions on protected-lane streets and growing bike trips.