Concrete Barriers to be Installed on Protected Bicycle Lanes Along Vernon Boulevard This Week

The DOT installing concrete barriers on Crescent Street last month. (Photo: DOT)

April 11, 2022 By Christian Murray

The DOT will be installing concrete barriers this week along the Vernon Boulevard protected bike lane to enhance safety for bicyclists.

The DOT notified Community Board 2 Monday that it will be installing concrete barriers on the Vernon Boulevard protected bike lane between 46^th Avenue and Queens Plaza South starting Tuesday April 12.

The work is expected to take a couple of days to complete, according to Thomas Mituzas, a co-chair of Community Board 2’s Transportation Committee.

The installation of the cement barriers is part of a DOT initiative to increase safety for cyclists. The DOT put up concrete barriers on the Crescent Street protected bike lane in Astoria last month.

The DOT posted a photo on Twitter on March 22 noting that it had installed the Crescent Street barriers from Hoyt Avenue South to Newtown Avenue and from 38th Ave to 39th Avenue. The agency said additional barriers were being installed along Crescent Street to Queens Plaza North.

The DOT announced in February that a number of protected bike lanes in Queens and throughout the city would see the installation of cement barriers as part of an effort to better protect cyclists from motorists.

Protected bike lanes in Long Island City, Astoria and Forest Hills were specifically mentioned to be among the first to have their plastic bollards replaced with concrete barriers through the initiative. Four Manhattan bike lanes were also scheduled for the first upgrades.

The three Queens lanes specifically mentioned in February included Crescent Street– from Queens Plaza North to Hoyt Avenue North; Vernon Boulevard from 46th Avenue to 30th Road; and Queens Boulevard from 73rd Street to Yellowstone Boulevard in Forest Hills.

The three Queens and four Manhattan protected bike lanes are the first lanes slated to get the concrete barriers in the program. The DOT plans to install cement barriers to 20 miles of the 40 existing miles of delineator-protected bike lanes in the city by the end of 2023.

Existing plastic bollards currently separating bike lanes from car lanes will be removed and replaced with cement Jersey barriers that weigh several tons.

“New York City’s cyclists deserve to be safe everywhere, but especially in protected lanes – where drivers will too often disrespect and block that critical space,” DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a statement in February when the initiative was announced. “We have an actionable, concrete plan to protect cyclists and we are going to deliver on this work to keep our lanes clear.”

The protected bike lane on Queens Boulevard, between Yellowstone Boulevard and 73rd Street, in Forest Hills. The plastic bollards are slated to be replaced by a cement barrier (Photo: DOT)