Brooklyn Community Board 10 Tells DOT It’s Finally Ready for Bike Lanes

A (blurry) photo snapped last week shows the Brooklyn CB 10 transportation committee's proposals for new Bay Ridge bike lanes, in black.

Thirteen months ago, Brooklyn Community Board 10 voted against painting a bike lane on Bay Ridge Parkway. The lane would have removed neither a travel lane nor parking from the road, but was still voted down by an overwhelming margin: 32 to 8. Council Members Dominic Recchia, Vincent Gentile, and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio all piled on with statements of opposition.

Streetsblog editor Ben Fried responded with an article headlined “Prediction: Brooklyn CB 10 Will Vote For Bike Lanes Sooner Than You Think.”

That time is now.

Last Thursday night, the transportation of Brooklyn CB 10 voted unanimously to send a package of bike lanes to the Department of Transportation for evaluation. After significant debate, the committee recommended lanes be painted on Sixth Avenue, Fort Hamilton Parkway, and Eleventh Avenue. A linear park running along 67th and 68th Streets, they said, could be modified to include more continuous greenway-style bike features. (The Brooklyn Paper reports that a bike lane was also proposed for Marine Avenue, though a board member who asked to remain anonymous told Streetsblog a bike lane on that street was rejected.)

By connecting with the existing bike path along the waterfront, the hope is to create a connected loop of bike lanes through the neighborhood.

“It’s been a long push to change people’s attitudes, but things are changing down here,” said the board member. Even Allen Bortnick, the board member who emerged as the most vocal opponent of bike lanes in the neighborhood, voted “present” rather than formally opposing the recommendations.

It’s still a ways from here to actual paint on the ground, of course. The full board of CB 10 will vote on the recommendations when it reconvenes after the summer. After that, DOT will still have to study the lanes and decide whether to accept the suggestions, then return to the board for a more formal approval.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

This Week: Bike-Ped Projects Cram the Calendar Tomorrow

|
Tuesday is a big day for street safety projects in Brooklyn and Queens, with community board meetings about bike lanes and pedestrian improvements. On Wednesday, Manhattanites will have the opportunity to weigh in at the first of two Vision Zero workshops in the borough. For the full complement of events, check the Streetsblog calendar. Here are the […]
To keep making progress on traffic safety, redesigns as substantial as this protected bike lane planned for Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn will have to be implemented citywide. Image: NYC DOT

DOT Shows Its Plan to Get the Reconstruction of 4th Avenue Right

|
Fourth Avenue is far and away the most viable potential bike route linking Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, and Park Slope, but it's still scary to ride on, with no designated space for cycling. At 4.5 miles long, a protected bike lane would make the reconstructed Fourth Avenue one of the most important two-way streets for bicycle travel in the city, connecting dense residential neighborhoods to jobs and schools.

DOT’s Fear of Community Boards Leads to Bike Lane Gaps in Brooklyn

|
Disjointed street design changes coming to Kingston Avenue and Brooklyn Avenue illustrate how DOT’s sheepish approach to bike lane implementation interferes with the development of a connected bike network. At Fulton Street in Bed-Stuy, these north-south routes connect with Tompkins Avenue and Throop Avenue, which both have bike lanes. But for years, the bike lanes didn’t extend south […]