The city of the 21st century is faced by a unique set of challenges for transportation. We chose to focus on one in particular—the integration of bicycle traffic, as a green alternative to the automobile, with New York City as the prototypical urban environment. Despite a higher proliferation of bike lanes throughout the city, busy intersections, such as 9th Street and 4th Avenue in Brooklyn, are still a danger to cyclists and drivers alike. However, conventional methods for integrating bike traffic and slowing automobile and truck traffic are derived from the small town or suburban model, often under the auspices of the New Urbanism movement, and are not suited for the modern global metropolis. The recent development of the intersection of 23rd Street, Fifth Avenue and Broadway in Manhattan is a case in point. Instead, a solution is called for that does not compromise either form of transportation, and retains the urban character of the area.

Our proposed solution is a separation of both forms of traffic at major intersections. Rather than further segmenting already confined city streets, bicycle traffic is elevated off the street on its own infrastructural layer. The Plug-in Rotary sits atop major intersections as a traffic circle for bicycles, providing recreational park areas and bike rentals at the center. An urban-scale module, the rotary can be used repeatedly throughout the city, among other things to create pickup and drop-off points for bicycle rentals. At night, a lighting scheme integrated into the ramps and rotary illuminates areas both above and below the structure. The rotary transforms dangerous intersections by creating replicable urban places providing relief from congested city streets.