Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Bicycle Infrastructure

Nola Gets Protected Bike Lanes Almost Overnight

A pop-up protected bike lane network is going live in New Orleans. Photo: Bike Easy

That was Big Easy!

A New Orleans group is installing five protected, albeit temporary, bike lanes on key corridors as a demonstration of "how streets can be transformed to safely and equitably serve everyone who travels," the group Bike Easy said in a statement.

Three of the five routes are already laid down, thanks to volunteers. The total demonstration, which is called "Connect the Crescent," will measure almost four miles, and fill several gaps among the existing painted bike lanes.

"We’ve built a lot of bike lanes over the last 10 or so years but we’re trying to make sure that they actually connect to each other and they’re high quality," Bike Easy's Rob Henig Bell told Streetsblog.

2018830_CtCMap_FINAL+(1)
Map: Bike Easy
Map: Bike Easy

The bike lanes are being constructed using high-grade pavement tape (meant to least up to a year), green paint and plastic bollards. Bike Easy and its volunteers have so far installed a bike lane along Baronne Street downtown and two additional small segments that connect existing bike lanes to the Lafitte Greenway trail to the north and to the Canal Street Ferry Terminal to the south. The other two connections, including Decatur Street through the French Quarter — which will run down the center of the street — will be completed before the end of the month, said Henig Bell.

The temporary lanes will be gone by the end of the year, but will hopefully linger in the minds of city officials when they plan their own improvements.

"They’ve committed to building miles and miles of protected bike lanes in the next few years," Henig Bell said.

The entire demonstration will cost $75,000.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Thursday’s Headlines Are Charged Up for the Fourth

The Republican megabill is bad for the electric vehicle industry, but it could be worse.

July 3, 2025

Why is the Secretary of Transportation Begging Americans to Take More Road Trips?

Instead of making America easier to see on all modes, the US Department of Transportation is encouraging U.S. residents to just get in their cars and drive.

July 3, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines Are for the Children

From mothers with babies in strollers to preteens on bikes, much of the U.S. is hostile to families just trying to get around without a car.

July 2, 2025

Ambulance Data Reveals That Boston Drivers Are 4 Times More Likely to Run Over Pedestrians From Black Neighborhoods

"Overall, residents of predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods are about four times more likely than residents of predominantly white neighborhoods to be struck as a pedestrian."

July 1, 2025
See all posts