Central Park West & Columbus Ave

I started my leisurely Sunday ride by heading east on W 80th Street on Upper West Side towards the green market on Columbus Ave behind the Museum of Natural History. I was curious to see how the protected bike lane on Columbus Ave was holding up at the end of the busy day.

 

The green market vendors set up along the east side of Columbus Avenue from W 81st to W 77th Street. The bike path also runs along the east side and is protected by separating the traffic using a parking lane. On Sundays, this lane is closed off to personal vehicle parking as it is used by the farmers/vendors to park their trucks. I've ridden on this stretch of the Columbus Ave path countless times and have always felt safe on it because of the separation from cars and the great signage (green lane). In my experience, the vendors have always been respectful of the path and I've found that they usually check for bike traffic prior to crossing.

This Sunday ride was more or less as enjoyable as past rides apart from the singular car that pulled up to the sidewalk blocking the bike lane. I suspect the driver may have been a vendor because he was not in the car and it was parked by a stand. Since there was no parking lane available in that portion of the green market, I excused the unfortunate behavior and carefully rode around the right side of the car.

Columbus Ave & W 77th Street

I continued riding south on Columbus because I was enjoying the well marked bike lane. I didn't encounter any hazards on this part of the ride apart from the one off pedestrian who stood on the bike path while waiting for a green light to cross. When they saw me approach, they moved out of the way without me needing to say anything.

Green market - North view of the path

The traffic light on W 72nd and Columbus caused a bit of confusion for me because the pedestrian light showed green/walk, but the street light was red.  I was expecting the delayed light to be in sync with the pedestrian light, but this didn't seem to be the case. To make sure I wasn't seeing things, I spent a few minutes at this intersection and saw this pattern repeat for the next 2 light changes. In terms of signage, I found this intersection to be a bit misleading and was uncertain which light I was supposed to follow, so I went on the pedestrian light. 

Columbus Ave & W 72nd St

 As I was getting closer to Lincoln Center, the protected bike lane ended and the parking lane moved to the sidewalk. The street was significantly more congested here than the prior 10 blocks, which required me to be more alert and aware of my surroundings. The bike path ended without warning as I approached the intersection of Columbus and Broadway at W 65th Street and I was left fighting the cars and crowds of pedestrians to get off the busy road. This intersection was the most unpleasant portion of my 7 mile ride because it lacked bike signage and any indication that this road was shared by cars and bikes. I felt that I had to fight my way through and hope that I would get out OK. There is definitely room for improvement in this intersection for both bicyclists and pedestrians.

Columbus Ave & Broadway intersection @ W 65th Street/ Lincoln Center

I maneuvered around the swarm of pedestrians at this intersection and headed east on W 65th Street towards the Central Park West bike path. Turning north onto this marked bike path, I encountered many other riders who were all heading in the same northbound direction. There was a large Chevy Silverado pick-up truck that was driving partially in the bike path. At one point, the female driver of this massive car decided to stop half way into the bike lane to wait out the red light. I had to literally squeeze in between her car and the parked car in order to get through. She continued to drive in the bike lane at which point I pulled out my phone and tried to snap the below photo while riding. The photo doesn't do her riding justice as it barely shows her cutting into my lane, but still helps to draw the picture of the dangers bikers need to contend with when they ride in unprotected bike lanes.

Central Park West & W 66th Street

As I continued my ride north on Central Park West I came across 5 cars (2 cabs and 3 PMVs) that pulled into the bike lane to park temporarily. This is nothing new to me and just another reason why I normally do not like to ride in unprotected bike lanes.  Temporarily double parking when there is no room to pull in anywhere is one thing (annoying and slows down traffic), but double parking when there is ample space to pull in along the curb is a whole other ball game. The taxi and silver Honda CRV in the below two photos had space to pull in, but found it easier to stop in the bike lane.

 

As I reached the W 100s, I began looking for bike lane signage on the cross streets. I wanted to head west, but didn't come across much signage on the Central Park West path that indicated potential to cross west on a bike path. It would be a nice bonus if the bike lanes were continuous and signage was informative in terms of connecting/intersecting paths. I noticed a marked bike path on W 106th Street and took it west. 

As I approached Manhattan Ave intersection, I noticed a car on my left had a right blinker on and was looking to turn once the light turned green. Had I not been paying attention to the car traffic around me, then this Zip Car driver would have plowed directly into me while making his turn. He clearly did not see me and didn't show any desire to give me the right of way (rightfully mine since I was heading straight and he was turning) when he finally did spot me. This further shows that biking on city streets, whether protected or not, requires extra care on the part of the cyclist. Not all drivers are aware of bicyclists and are used to them sharing the road.

I quickly got off the unprotected bike lane on W 106 St and turned south on the protected Columbus Ave path which I earlier got off of. The ride from here to W 77th St was largely uneventful. I had to stop unexpectedly 3 times because jaywalking pedestrians did not look right before crossing into the bike path. 

Columbus Ave - North view

Overall, I found the protected bike path on Columbus Avenue to be clean and well maintained (no pot holes, debris, garbage). It was continuous for the entire W 106 St to W 67th St stretch and had great signage. Its green color made it more pronounced and directional arrows were useful in informing the rider and cars where each can go. In general, I felt quite safe and comfortable taking this path. Given its protection from cars, I found pedestrians more willing to stand in while waiting to cross. The bike path on Central Park West from W 65th Street to W 106th St was not as pleasant of a ride because of the double parked cars and close proximity to fast moving car traffic.