A number of cities throughout the US are adding protected bike lanes as part of their mobility plans.
Sacramento, CA recently announced that it will use a $5 million grant from the California Transportation Commission to add more protected bike lanes to its midtown and downtown districts. The plan – called the Central City Mobility Project – will connect and expand existing protected bike lanes, making it easier for people to access a proposed midtown train station. The goal is to increase transportation connections between neighborhoods and improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians, and children at play.
“Making it easier and safer for people to bike improves our quality of life and is also one of our main strategies to address climate change,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. “Protected bike lanes reduce the risk of traffic collisions and make people feel more comfortable cycling on our streets.”
New York City’s Department of Transportation also recently announced its plans to significantly expand bike lanes and public spaces next year. The new bike lanes will make it easier for bicycles and pedestrians to access the Washington Bridge – which connects the Bronx and Manhattan -and add protected bike lanes and two-way bike boulevards to several streets. It also aims to improve public spaces in Brooklyn. These plans are part of the city’s Open Streets program, which closes some streets to vehicle traffic for use by pedestrians and cyclists, and the city’s goal of creating the largest bike network in the U.S.
“The DOT is proud to have delivered life-saving initiatives — including its most recent victory in surpassing the city’s commitment to improve the safety of 1,000 intersections across the city and to harden 20 miles of bike lanes,” NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said. “As the DOT continues to build, we are also excited to unveil some of the agency’s plans to continue expanding protections for all New Yorkers in the next year.”