Brand new smaller-sized traffic signals are beginning to light up bike lanes along 3rd Avenue in Manhattan in an effort to increase safety on the street.
The city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) installed the first signal at the intersection of 3rd Avenue and East 69th Street on the Upper East Side. It features a tiny bicycle inside a traditional traffic light structure that glows to alert cyclists when to stop, prepare to stop and keep going, respectively.
DOT officials said the new signals, installed at about feet off the ground at cyclist eye-level, have “proven elsewhere to increase safety as well as cyclist compliance” with traffic laws.
The agency said more signals are planned for the major East Side thoroughfare. The installations follow the DOT’s 2023 redesign of 3rd Avenue from East 60th to East 90th Streets, which features pedestrian islands, an offset bus lane, and a double-wide parking-protected bike lane.
Making Third Avenue safer
Prior to its redesign, the two-mile stretch of 3rd Avenue was a Vision Zero Priority Corridor with a high incidence of vehicle speeding with 31 severe traffic injuries and five traffic fatalities between 2020 and 2024, according to the DOT.
“Our transformative redesign of 3rd Avenue has already made the street safer whether you are walking, biking or driving,” DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said. “These new traffic signals for cyclists complement our green wave traffic timing, the next natural step in making sure the thousands of cyclists who use this street every day can keep both themselves and the many pedestrians crossing 3rd Avenue safe.”
More of the signals scheduled to come are being placed at intersections with left-turning vehicle lanes that cross the bicycle lane.
According to a research paper at Oregon State University, smaller bike signals have resulted in increased compliance with traffic laws. Per the paper, “The average percentage of users who committed a red-light violation [after such lights were installed] decreased from 30.8% to 14.8%.”
The 3rd Avenue “Complete Street” project, constructed in 2023, included redesigning every intersection on the avenue and traffic-calming measures to reduce speeding.
“We are working every day to make our streets safer and to make it easier for New Yorkers to get around our city,” Rodriguez said.
According to the DOT, the redesign now “better accommodates” all road users, including by “delivering faster, more reliable bus service” for the 50,000 daily riders along the corridor. The DOT also installed segments of bike lanes along Third Avenue as wide as 10 feet, which aim to make conditions “safer and more comfortable” for cyclists and others.
