Workers add markings to the Sands Street lane. Photo: brooklynbybike/Flickr

Later today, Transportation Alternatives will mark the completion of a major Brooklyn livable streets improvement — a protected bike lane on the Sands Street approach to the Manhattan Bridge.

Sands Street is where, in 2005, TA Senior Policy Advisor Noah Budnick was seriously injured after hitting a pothole. Reads a TA media release:

In the years that followed, cycling in New York City has seen some massive improvements, including the nation’s first on-street traffic-separated bike lane and the installation of hundreds of new bike-parking spots. Concurrently, the number of city cyclists increased 80 percent with the number of daily Manhattan Bridge bike-commuters soaring from 829 to 2,232.

Noah helped make many of these improvements happen and nowhere is that more apparent than on the stretch of Sands Street that connects Navy Street with Jay Street.

DOT and DDC personnel will be on hand, as will Council Member Tish James. The event begins at 6:30 at the Manhattan Bridge and Sands Street and will culminate in a ride along the new path, followed by a gathering at nearby Recycle-a-Bicycle in DUMBO.