Riverdale Avenue’s ‘diet’ has become reality | The Riverdale Press

By Stacy Driks

If you drove down Riverdale Avenue last week, you would have noticed some strange markings and fresh paint on the roadway. That’s because the city transportation department had begun the much-ballyhooed road-narrowing plan there.

Nearly five months since the contentious Community Board 8 traffic and transportation committee voted against the DOT plan, North Riverdale’s main thoroughfare is starting to look and feel different.

“I drove there today just to do a test drive, and I got to tell you, being behind the bus on a one-lane road is not pleasant,” Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said last week.

Nearly five days after Dinowitz’s observation, Riverdale Avenue between West 254th and West 263rd Street has been officially transformed into a narrower roadway with turning lanes and special lanes for bicycles. The work that started two weeks ago was completed over the Labor Day weekend.

“DOT is proud to deliver a project that improves safety for all road users on Riverdale Avenue,” said Mona Bruno, a DOT spokesperson. “We are excited to implement a design that reduces speeding, calms traffic, and slows turning drivers on the streets while creating an important new connection for the borough’s new bike network.”

Last week only traced pavement markings and some newly painted bicycle lanes  highlighted some of the department’s plans. There were markings of a 5-foot bike lane between defined…