I think it's worth the sacrifice to have a safe place for slower and less experienced riders. like my friends and brother who use this lane, always tell me how much safer they feel in the new lane there. i would get where i need to go faster by riding with traffic, but i don't because.. i could get a ticket for it. i guess.

Hitting that intersection every time I roll back from a ride, the deliveries aren't really the issue or at least they're not the biggest issue with the 9th Avenue bike lane. The problem is the non-bikers (runners, walkers, people with strollers) who think nothing of walking down the middle and the bikes going in the wrong direction. It was much easier and safer to get home before the lane was put in. And traffic was never the issue it is now on 9th. Conceptually a nice thing, but in reality not so great.