Bikes making a right from the left side of sb bway should wait until the cars have a red, then make a right and join westbound traffic; or, merge into traffic to the right, and behave like a vehicle in the road.

The adjacent bike-and-left-car-turn bays have mutually exclusive light phases, which drivers respect unless they're in from the dirty Jerz.

hmm, what would be better, a circular bike lane around columbus circle that had to worry about cars turning into it, or using the island in the middle for bike queuing between lights?

It would be really nice if DOT and Parks could get together and create a link between the Central Park loop and Columbus Circle so that cyclists headed north could connect from 8th Avenue and going south could connect to Broadway.

There used to be a car exit from the loop drive there, and it was converted to a walkway and better landscaping, a huge improvement. I'm honestly not sure why they didn't put a bikeway in; probably just weren't thinking about bikes at all.

The "Broadway Boulevard" section between 42nd and 34th has also gotten a tad wider in spots ... they've moved the planters out into the parking lane in some places, to get an extra lane for the pedestrians.

By the way, the bike lane changes have been striped from 34th down to Madison Square Park -- and it feels much, much safer than it used to (perhaps in part because fewer cars are coming from Times Square, but also, at least in part, because the lane markings are much, much clearer and bike friendlier). Collectively, these changes feels like a pretty big deal. Maybe it's a good thing that they feel small in comparison to the the closed off bits of Broadway. If DOT tried to do them earlier, it might have caused a lot more complaining.

Unfortunately, though, I didn't seen too many bikes on Broadway, so I'm glad you streetsbloggers are getting the word out.

broadway used to be a straight shot from central park to union square, now its kind of a mess. the bike lane just seems to end at herald square and it is tough to get over to 5th ave. but that's a reasonable trade for all the new pedestrian space we have now. hopefully they will figure out to have a continuous bike lane that isn't overrun with people. 7th ave through times square would probably be best if they can spare any more space.

1. Yes, they have learned from Herald Square and from 57th to 47th the bike is between the expanded pedestrian areas and the parking lane.

2. That gap that we see in the photos between the sidewalk and the bike lane will be filled in with the beige sand for pedestrian plazas. They didnt expand the sidewalk since thats much more money, and this is still only "temporary"

3. Yes, the plan has bike lights, just like it does between Times and Herald Squares - I biked that part as well while it was open, and it looked just like the current parts do while they were working on it.

4. YES - car-free sections of Times square will allow bikes through, similar to how they do in Herald Square (where there was already a protected bike area from the failed lanes from decades ago). If you look at page 14 of this presentation - http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/broadway_0223409.pdf - you can see the faint lines cutting through the closed areas. It will head down the left side of Broadway, cross 7th ave at 45th street, and then continue down the left side of Broadway until it picks up the section that was completed last year. At Herald Square, (where most is already striped but not colored green), it will cross 6th ave at 33rd and then continue on the left side of Broadway on a yet-to-be-started protected lane down to 23rd street.

5. Another thing that has gone mostly un-noticed is that the 42-34th street stretches now have extended ladder-style crosswalks between the plazas, not just at the sidewalk. Before, people would naturally walk across streets from one plaza to another, but there was no crosswalk. Those are now going in from the start from the 59-47th stretch.

They do need to find a better solution to the 'bike lane through the plazas" problem as mentioned by previous commenters

I understand JSK's need for incremental changes, and I can walk the times square intersection if I have to (or bike south on seventh ave), but the lack of left turn lights, ala ninth ave, is a contentious problem everyday I'm there.

Until these problems get addressed, it's easier for me to bike down 7th Avenue, although I like riding on the (working) parts of the Broadway lane. Hopefully, DOT will soon fix.

It has made crossing Broadway on foot a hell of a lot more pleasant.

This stretch seems to be unfinished yet. If it's not finished, my hope/concern is that DOT has learned from the stretch between Herald Square and Times Square, and and they won't put a bike lane right through the middle two ped-only areas. There, peds overrun the bike lane--quite forgivably.

Actually, I hope I'm wrong--I hope it's finished now, because currently it's working very well.

If the latter, why wasnt the sidewalk simply extended then?