By Joseph Morales

    The Fordham Area is a densely populated portion of The Bronx. It is home to the bustling Fordham Road Shopping District, the Fordham Plaza Transit Hub, Fordham University and also the Bronx’s world famous Little Italy neighborhood. Walking and taking public transit are the primary modes of travel in the community as only between 25% and 40% of New Yorkers living in these areas own a car according to an article by the New York City Economic Development Corporation published in 2018.This tally most likely is not including many Fordham University students that might live on or off campus without a car. Thus, access to a safe cycling network can allow residents to be able to travel via a convenient and active mode.

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                 That’s why the New York City Department Of Transportation(NYCDOT), is proposing to construct a robust, on-street cycling network to not only make cycling safer and more convenient in the community and its surrounding areas, but also create safer streets for all road users including pedestrians and drivers. The cycling network would use a combination of shared bike lanes, standard bike lanes and protected bike lanes depending on the street conditions and all of which are known to reduce the risk of cyclist injuries. What type of lanes are built where is chosen based on street width, continuity, connectivity to different places and road typography. Upgraded crosswalks at certain locations are also proposed, though which are not exactly clear. The bicycle network will also be built to support an increase in bike share users as well as an increase in bicycle ridership in general according to the NYCDOT.

                The network would address the issues that make cycling in the Fordham area less safe and convenient. These issues include discontinuous streets, frequent changes in travel direction, narrow street widths and a lack of east-west bicycle routes. 

               One of the biggest parts of the proposal is to introduce protected bike lanes to Park Avenue between East 165th St and East 188th St on both sides of the Metro-North Railroad(MNR) tracks. Park Avenue already has standard bike lanes, but these lanes will make cyclists feel more at ease traveling on the narrow street and these lanes can connect them to new bike lanes on East 180th St, existing bike lanes on East Tremont Avenue, as well as other bike lanes and destinations throughout the Central and West Bronx. 

              There will be new standard bike lanes in numerous locations in the area. These include bike lanes on East 180th Street between Southern Boulevard and Grand Concourse as well as other portions of streets that go across the area such as East 188th-189th Streets and West 181st-183rd Streets. The purpose of these connections is to fill the large gap in east-west connections that exist in the current Fordham Area Bicycle Network. Other sets of standard lanes will be built in the network to address similar gaps such as on Weeks/Monroe Avenues as well as E172nd/173rd Sts to connect cyclists between the proposed Park Avenue protected bike lanes and Crotona Park. Standard lanes will also be built surrounding Claremont and Crotona Parks, making it easier for cyclists to access these sprawling green spaces as well as their cycling trails.

Crotona Park North near Crotona Park where the NYCDOT is proposing adding standard bike lanes to the vast majority of the street.

Proposed Bike Lane Network As Presented to Bronx Community Boards 5,6 and 7 whose district boundaries are within the area to be served by the new bicycle network.

             Shared bike lanes will be used in certain spots where standard or protected bike lanes are not feasible and mostly  corridors that mainly have standard bike lanes. This includes a portion of Mt. Eden Pkwy around Claremont Park as well as portions of Grand/Davidson Avenues between Fordham and Kingsbridge Roads.

             This construction of this new and improved bike network will not only make cycling better in the Fordham area, but as cycling grows in popularity citywide projects like this can improve mobility citywide for years to come.

Citations

New York City Department Of Transportation. “Fordham , Bronx Bicycle Lane Network Expansion.” NYC.gov, 7 May 2021, https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/fordham-area-bike-network-cb5-cb6-cb7-may2021.pdf. Accessed 16 October 2022.

New York City Economic Development Corporation. New Yorkers and Their Cars | NYCEDC, 5 April 2018, https://edc.nyc/article/new-yorkers-and-their-cars. Accessed 16 October 2022.