A Queens judge ruled Friday that the city’s decision to build a bike lane on 31st Street violated proper procedures and ordered a stretch of the roadway restored to its original state, following construction efforts this summer.
The ruling is an unusual legal victory for plaintiffs in the decades-long fight between local businesses and the steady expansion of bike lanes throughout New York City. Similar lawsuits challenging bike and bus lanes are routinely dismissed by judges who tend to defer to the city Department of Transportation’s authority to redesign streets, as outlined in a Streetsblog story about the ruling.
The transportation department had described the project — which called for protected bike lanes on both sides of 31st Street running from 36th Avenue to Newtown Avenue — as a “safety project” and part of its Vision Zero program to reduce traffic fatalities. The city identified the corridor as among the top 10% most dangerous in Queens, citing approximately 190 injuries between 2019 and 2024, including 12 serious injuries and two deaths…