You Had One Job: Schermerhorn Street Repaving Leaves Cyclists Out of Room

Someone wrote the word "BUMP" just too damn big to accommodate the bike lane.

Someone painted "BUMP" too widely on Schermerhorn Street between Court and Clinton streets, meaning it will have to be redone if the city restores the bike lane. Photo: Gersh Kuntzman
Someone painted "BUMP" too widely on Schermerhorn Street between Court and Clinton streets, meaning it will have to be redone if the city restores the bike lane. Photo: Gersh Kuntzman

Here’s today’s metaphor for how America’s car-centric culture sees cyclists: In the way.

Contractors for the Department of Transportation recently repaved Schermerhorn Street between Court and Clinton streets in Brooklyn Heights — but the person who restriped the roadway not only forgot to repaint the bike lane, but he or she also wrote the word “BUMP” so wide that the work will have to be done all over again if the city restores the cycling path (photo above).

Here’s how the roadway looked before the repaving…

Schermerhorn Street between Court and Clinton streets before the repaving. Photo: Google Maps
Schermerhorn Street between Court and Clinton streets before the repaving. Photo: Google Maps

And here’s what it should look like…

This is what bike lane and "BUMP" paint should look like. Photo: Gersh Kuntzman

The city should restore the bike lane to Schermerhorn Street between Court and Clinton streets because it is a key route around the mess of Downtown Brooklyn, linking riders from Smith Street to the Clinton Street bike path (see map below):

BH bike map

After this story was published, a DOT spokesperson said, “A work order for this site has been placed and the bike lane will be repainted soon.”

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