Introduction

The EcoBarrier™ Vegetated Bike Lane Protection Stormwater System is Leaf Island’s take on bicycle lane protection.

Nearly three dozen cyclists in New York City have lost their lives due to vehicle collisions in 2019 alone. Many of these deaths were attributed to unprotected bike lanes. It is a common scenario: a delivery or garbage truck has poor visibility of a cyclist and veers into a bike lane, or pulls a short right turn undercutting the lane. As a result, the Mayor’s Office and City Council moved to introducee 250 miles of protected bike lanes.

This is where Leaf Island comes in. We believe that all public infrastructure should produce some degree of ecological value. The 250 miles of protected bike lanes could be turned into 250 miles of zero-discharge roadways. Do the math: that’s 118 million gallons of stormwater that doesn’t have to enter the sewer system, 475 kg of particulate matter that doesn’t have to enter NYC residents’ lungs, 250 miles of pollinator habitats, and 250 miles of beautiful, safe roadways that keep drivers and cyclists in their respective lanes. 

Each one-block segment of EcoBarriers utilizes a nearby rain garden system constructed from soil and glass aggregate to store, filter and pump water into the barriers.