Current Safety Improvements
Over the last several years many of the existing segments of the East River Greenway have fallen into disrepair. Shown below are a series of photos showing current areas with uneven surfaces, sinkholes, and extreme narrowing. In certain spots the Greenway is so narrow that the Parks Department has put up signs instructing cyclists to dismount.
Because of the current gap in the Greenway, as well as the general poor condition of existing Greenway segments, many pedestrians, cyclists, skaters, and joggers are forced to use the heavily congested areas on First & Second Avenues. In fact, the Parks Department and Department of Transportation officially suggest such a detour. However, the on-street detours are unsafe for inexperienced users, providing no protection from dangerous traffic with only signs on avenue lamp posts designating that the route is in fact part of the Greenway. Even where there are Class II bike lanes painted on crosstown streets, they are often blocked by double parked cars, forcing cyclists into moving traffic.
For a taste of a trip up the current East River Greenway, check out Scott Baker’s report from November 2009.
Until there is either a completed Greenway or protected bike lanes installed on First and Second Avenue in the interim, it is probably best that the the current unsafe “Greenway connector route” be de-mapped so as not to encourage recreational or inexperienced cyclists from venturing into the very dangerous roadways of East Midtown. At a minimum, a number of safety improvements such as on-street protected bike lanes and increased signage along the Greenway detour need to be made as soon as possible.