Transit advocates showed up to City Hall today with more than 2,500 letters calling on the mayor to extend the bike lanes all the way to Harlem, where the buses terminate as well. They took pains to emphasize the lanes as a safety measure, and asked for pedestrian islands to be installed too.

"Physically protected bike lanes calm traffic, and with accompanying pedestrian refuge islands,
these changes make the streets safer for everyone: cyclists, pedestrians, drivers and transit riders," Transportation Alternatives executive director Paul Steely White said in a release.

Perhaps the hope is that by pushing traffic calming and pedestrian safety, they can calm their opponents.

The First and Second avenue bike lanes have drawn small if vocal opposition from some neighbors. Just imagine what will happen once the hoi polloi lanes claw their way into the city's hoity toity neighborhoods. Already there's no love for lanes on the Upper West Side.

The bigger issue will be finding room in the city's transportation budget for the improvements. They are scheduled to be completed at some point in the future, but when remains an open question.

Power to the pedal!

mchaban [at] observer.com | @mc_nyo