NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday an aggressive $58.4 million bike safety plan that encourages cyclists to take to the streets, while improving the city's bicycle infrastructure.
The plan comes as the city's cyclist death toll continues to rise: So far this year, there's been 17 biking fatalities -- seven more than all of 2018.
"This year, we've seen a dangerous surge in cyclist fatalities," said de Blasio. "No loss of life on our streets is acceptable. Last year was the safest year on record and we have to keep pushing the envelope and increasing our efforts."
The plan includes more protected bike lanes (when barriers physically separate cyclists from vehicles), redesigning intersections to make turns safer for cyclists, and hiring 80 new city transportation workers whose jobs will be solely focused on bike improvements.
Bike lanes — including protected lanes — will also be expanded in 10 designated "bike priority districts" in Brooklyn and Queens that have few bike lanes, but a high number of cyclist injuries and fatalities.
In Queens, the neighborhoods include Corona, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights. In Brooklyn, the districts are in Bay Ridge, Midwood, Sheepshead Bay and Brownsville.
This year, 12 of the 17 cycling fatalities happened in Brooklyn.
According to the most recent city data, about 490,000 cycling trips are taken in the city each day.
