A Bumpy Ride

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New York City streets, often a patchwork of potholes, ruts, grooves, metal plates, sewer grates, wooden beams and hummocks, make for an uncomfortable ride for motorists. But they can be dangerous, even life-threatening for cyclists. New York City bicyclists face an additional array of ground-level hazards that hardly faze drivers — seas of broken glass; pavement made slick and greasy from oil, rain and street cleaning; and berms of lumpy pavement left over from sloppy construction jobs. These hazards are often worst along the curbside lanes, where most cyclists ride.

Not surprisingly, respondents to the T.A. survey cited “better street surfaces” second most often out of 18 potential improvements to the NYC cycling environment — second only to “more government and media support for bicycling.” Of 839 respondents, 523, or 62 percent, said better street surfaces were “very important.” Only 23 respondents — less than 3 percent — rated street surface improvements as “not at all important.”