Citi Bike (Queens Post/ Michael Dorgan)
Oct. 23, 2020 By Michael Dorgan
A preliminary map of Citi Bike’s continued expansion into western Queens has been released showing more than 50 additional docking stations going down in Astoria, Woodside and Long Island City.
The draft map was presented by the NYC Dept. of Transportation to Community Board 1’s Transportation Committee Monday as part of plans to increase Citi Bike’s bike-sharing network in the area.
The preliminary plan calls for 51 docking stations to be constructed in an area from Shore Boulevard and 20th Avenue in the northwest of Astoria to Ditmars Boulevard and the Grand Central Parkway in the east. The area runs through Woodside and south as far as 43rd Street and 37th Avenue in Long Island City.
The total area of this expansion covers 2.11 square miles, according to a DOT spokesperson.
Of the 51 new docking stations, 31 would be installed on roadways and 19 on sidewalks–with one other station on a pedestrianized roadbed space. All the stations will be solar-powered and wireless and will not be hardwired into the ground.
The number of bikes that would fill all of the docking stations has yet to be revealed and it is unclear how many parking spaces, if any, would be lost.
The DOT is looking for public feedback on the plans and will host a virtual town hall event on Oct. 28 with the agency releasing an updated plan in the middle of November.
Construction of the docking stations is scheduled to begin in early 2021 and will take around two months to complete, the DOT said.
Citi Bike first came to Queens in 2015 with docking stations in Long Island City. The program was then expanded into Astoria and the far reaches of Long Island City in 2017.
The latest expansion is part of a partnership between DOT and Citi Bike to increase the city’s current service area by 35 square miles and triple the number of bikes to 40,000. The cost of the project is around $100 million and is being funded entirely by the ride-sharing company Lyft.
The plans for the western Queens expansion follow a public outreach process where the DOT solicited feedback from residents on where the docking stations should be located.
The process sought to space out the docking stations and have all the docks within three to five minutes walking distance of each other. Other considerations include keeping the docks away from fire hydrants, ensuring docks don’t block travel lanes and that sidewalk stations have adequate room for pedestrians.
Those looking to attend the virtual town hall event discussing the western Queens expansion can register in advance by clicking here. The event will be held via Zoom and all attendees will each receive one Citi Bike Day pass.
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11 Comments
Again sunnyside is out of the plan !
Still nothing in Sunnyside? We have bike lanes tho…
I hate this program. MORE Bikes is the last thing needed. Get rid of the
Bike lanes. The ones on Queens blvd are a WASTE. All bikes do is cause more traffic and problems. DeBlasio should ride one of those bikes out of town
and keep on going. Can’t wait for him to be gone, he’s the cause of all this
bike lane B.S.
Bikes are good transportation. So now you need to pay a little attention to the road when you’re driving. Is it really that hard for you?
Bike lanes are here to stay. Myself and many others have started cycling since COVID. I do a 25 mile round trip to work, almost all of it on bike lanes, including both Skillman and QB. There’s plenty to criticize DeBlasio about; bike lanes is not one of the issues. It should take a little bit of pressure off the 7 line when everyone returns to work too. Everyone wins.
You know what really creates traffic and problems?
Cars.
And free on-street parking.
Denise, we are being surrounded. Mayday, Denise, mayday.
A little bird and a lot of logic tells ME/US that it’s only a matter of time before Vision Zero comes back here to steal more of our parking spots. The other day I/WE had to park two blocks from home. This is getting out of hand.
Here’s the plan.
I/WE will go around telling people about stolen parking, blocking fire hydrants, and get signatures at the farmers market by telling people the market will go away and be replaced by those horrid blue REBNY-on-wheels toy bikes.
YOU will draft a full board resolution to unanimously, this time, reject Citi Bike expansion into the 11104/11377 area. Trade the yes votes for issues the rogue members care about. Make sure the TA planted members are “absent” the night of the vote.
We’ll be fine. We’ll get through this. But why aren’t you returning MY/OUR calls? LOL
OMG 2 blocks! The humanity!
5 years later and they still leave sunnyside off the map. Put them under the 7 train and on the long Triangle sidewalks On greenpoint ave. No loss of parking or significant sidewalk impact. It’s time to link sunnyside to it’s neighbors in astoria, lic, and greenpoint.
isnt it just cheaper and less stressful to buy your own bike? what happens when you ride for 31 minutes instead of the allowed 30? get charged twice or will you get fined $100? and who will ride their bike when its 30 below zero? just not worth the hassle and stress when you have more important things to worry about.
you don’t know this, but sometimes bikes get stolen. in fact, there are LOTS of use cases for Citibikes, as you point out; so we need more.
> what happens when you ride for 31 minutes instead of the allowed 30
There’s a charge. You can google “citibike” to find out more.
>who will ride their bike when its 30 below zero
Thousands of people. Do you stop walking to the subway or ordering delivery food when it’s cold? No? Oh…then you already knew that.