Push to Make DeKalb Avenue More Bicycle-Friendly
Per Streetsblog, the DOT is cooking up some changes for DeKalb Avenue that are meant to calm traffic on the thoroughfare and make it more friendly to bicyclists. The department wants to install a dedicated bike lane on DeKalb that stretches from Bed-Stuy to Fort Greene. The DOT, which is currently seeking community input for…
Per Streetsblog, the DOT is cooking up some changes for DeKalb Avenue that are meant to calm traffic on the thoroughfare and make it more friendly to bicyclists. The department wants to install a dedicated bike lane on DeKalb that stretches from Bed-Stuy to Fort Greene. The DOT, which is currently seeking community input for its plan, is also looking to undertake other initiatives such as improving intersection safety via more lane markings and enforcing time-limited parking during certain hours. Work on the 2.6-mile stretch could begin as early as May of this year. City stats say that seven out of ten households in Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy are car-free and many lack convenient subway access, making them ideal neighborhoods to target in terms of introducing more bicycle-friendly features. The plan will be presented to Community Board 2 tonight.
DeKalb Avenue Could Become a More Complete Street [Streetsblog]
PDF: DeKalb Avenue Project [DOT]
I live on DeKalb on the side of the street which will have no parking. Needless to say I am not a fan of this. As little as I like the congestion on my street now, this will force the bus to exhaust directly into my ground floor (on the bus side of DeKalb Ave. the yards and sidewalks were already shortened in the sixties. The opposite side of the street has the original layout of deeper front yards and wider sidewalk.). I will never be able to unload groceries in front of my house or load up the car again.
Additionally,between all the construction on Flatbush, Dekalb, Myrtle and Flushing as well as the area over by 3rd Ave. & Schermerhorn, there is LITERALLY NO FREAKING WAY TO GET IN OR OUT OF THIS NEIGHBORHOOD EXCEPT TO GO TOWARDS WILLIAMSBURGH. Another roadway construction project would be a nightmare to the region in general.
Contrary to a comment above, this plan still accommodates parking on both sides of the street.
Also, NYC traffic engineering studies show that any increase in traffic after closing lanes or entire streets is temporary. When traffic gets too bad, drivers take other routes, other modes of transportation, or travel at different times. (Similarly, adding streets or lanes only alleviates congestion in the short term….)
See http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/02/new_york_transp.html
And with safer streets, more people will bike. Look at European cities – we are WAY behind in smart planning.
this is good and relevant
http://dothetest.co.uk/
Fewer moving lanes means more congestion, more cars idling, more tailpipe emissions, more horns honking, slower bus service.
As a very longtime bicyclist, the last place I would want to be is in a bike lane alongside a parking lane. You’re much better off in the midst of traffic, in or between moving lanes. Along the parking lane is where all the erratic behavior happens – doors opening, pedestrians darting out, cars stopping suddenly, pulling out suddenly.
I love the idea – people drive way way too fast on DeKalb because they can. Let’s make it a two way street while we’re at it. Would probably slow down the dangerous drivers.
I live in Clinton Hill. I ride my bike on Dekalb and it is scary.
I think the buffer would prevent most double parkers.
Bring it on.
As a bicyclist, this seems like a bad idea. Flushing would make a better bike lane. That’s the way I get West. Lighter traffic over there. The bottleneck in that area of Dekalb is the intersection of DeKalb and Classon, where the police have parked sideways and turned DeKalb into a one-lane road, across the street from a bus-stop. This requires everyone to merge into one lane for about 100 feet, simply to allow the police to park an extra ten cars.
The bike lane on Bedford, however, is working pretty well, though I agree with previous posters. Double parking on bike lanes is not ticketed at all, but neither are any other moving violations in NYC.
ban all cars from brooklyn. they were never intended for our brownstone nabes.
Dekalb needs something like this if it expects to compete with the rezoning of Myrtle. The commuter traffic should be pushed onto Flushing, Park and Atlantic.
Just one factual reply to 10:05–the DeKalb Avenue bike lane is intended to be the westbound match to the eastbound lane on Willoughby. Another eastbound lane (e.g.: Lafayette) doesn’t add anything.