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The city taking steps to improve roadway safety on the Upper East Side
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Yeah, they've installed smaller traffic signals for bikers at their eye level
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which the city hopes will increase compliance with traffic laws. All right, Fox 5, Jessica Formoso asked New Yorkers if they think it will make a difference
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It's a smaller version of a traffic light. The Department of Transportation designing these new and smaller lights
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in hopes to catch the attention of cyclists. You can hardly see it
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New bike lane traffic signals are being installed along a portion of 3rd Avenue on the Upper East Side
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The first one is on East 69th Street, installed about five feet off the ground
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DOT Commissioner Idanes Rodriguez says, quote, These new traffic signals for cyclists complement our green wave traffic timing
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The next natural step is making sure the thousands of cyclists who use this street every day
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can keep both themselves and the many pedestrians crossing 3rd Avenue safe
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The lights here are timed so when the cars need to make a left the cyclists have a red light And the same deal goes for pedestrians When they have the right of way everyone else has to stop We stood out here on the corner of East 69th Street to see how the new lights are being received They are at eye level if you
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a cyclist, but from what we saw, no one really noticed them. They're probably not focusing on
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looking up all the time. They're probably just kind of focusing on eye level. Since this would
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be eye level for most cyclists, I feel like this should be pretty helpful. I don't think that'll
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make a difference. But the commissioner says in other parts of the country where these lights have
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been installed, they have proven to increase safety. It's all part of the city's plan to
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redesign Third Avenue. In 2023, pedestrian islands were installed along with a new offset bus lane
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and a double-wide parking-protected bicycle lane from East 60th to 96th Street, making it safer for
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pedestrians and cyclists. Fast forward to 2025, this small traffic light is just the first of
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more expected to be added at intersections where drivers making left-hand turns will cross the
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bicycle lane. On the Upper East Side, I'm Jessica Formoso, Fox 5 News
