While the city’s bicycle network expands and attracts new riders, many are far from ­comfortable riding in traffic. Until we’ve all learned to share the road a little better, off-street greenways are crucial for both commuters and recreational cyclists.

A while back I rode Brooklyn’s Fifth Avenue towards Owl’s Head Park and tried to follow a greenway path on the DOT bike map. However, the protected path wasn’t easy to find and when I did stumble upon it, I noticed some dangerous conditions…. missing curb cuts.  Sure, the path linking Leif Ericson Park to Owl’s Head Park leaves a lot to be desired; but until funding is given for a complete overhaul, a simple curb cut on on Third Avenue between Wakeman and 65th street would be a huge remedy.

The class II bike lane directs you to the off-street path but does so dangerously.  Third Avenue is a busy street, with bus traffic and cars entering/exiting the Belt Parkway; it’s no place to hop off your bike mid-block and lift it onto the sidewalk. Coupled with signage to yield to pedestrians, a curb cutwould allow a safer, seamless entrance to the off-street path. ­ Continue reading »

­­­On September 30^th 2009 a group of volunteers from our committee set out to survey commuters as they were waiting for the bus to take them home from the train station. South Brooklyn has been identified by the committee as a location in Brooklyn with extremely limited bike infrastructure. In an effort to increase the amount of cyclists in this area, the Kings Highway subway station on the B &Q lines was selected as an area were infrastructure may prove useful.­

Comments by Murray Latner­­

Comments by Kate Brattin

­Comments by Carolina Griggs

­Former Mill Basin resident and dedicated committee member Murray Latner produced the survey materials and had this to say about the experience:

“Surveying for bicycle lanes and bicycle infrastructure at the Kings Highway Subway Station (B and Q Line) was a worthwhile and informative experience. When I first started the surveys at the bus stops for the B2, B3K, B31 and B100 at 4:30 PM, I was at first discouraged by the blank looks and lack of interest that many of the line waiters expressed when approached about cycling. I recorded over 40 people that were not interested in participating in the surveys, however, there were more blank faces than I could count.   
Continue reading »

In 2005, a tragic bike fatality stirred neighborhood groups and businesses to request much needed traffic calming on Park Slope’s busy corridor, 5th Avenue. More than 100 local businesses signed letters of support for a new 5th Avenue bike lane. The NYC Department of Transportation responded with a combination class II bike lane/ class III shared bike route that extends from Dean to 24th street. Four years later, NYC averages thousands of cyclists daily, hundreds of them utilizing 5th avenue as a safe route for commuting, shopping, and living; but there is room for improvement.

On Sunday, October 11th, a dozen riders from the Transportation Alternatives Brooklyn Committee ventured on a full Fifth Avenue bike ride, exploring the idea of expanding the current bike route to a wider stretch of Brooklyn. The ride started at it’s northern end at Flatbush Avenue and continued to its southern terminus by the Verrazzano bridge. Though a bike lane exists for much of this street’s Park Slope neighborhood, the group of riders discovered the golden opportunity for a bike lane expansion that would connect neighborhoods like Sunset Park and Bay Ridge, parks such as Leif Ericson Park and Fort Hamilton Park, and provide safer streets for Brooklyn’s residents as well as 5th avenue merchants.

This was just the beginning of TA BK committee’s new campaign, but to stay in the loop on all its progress, join the mailing list and check out images from the TA BK Flickr page courtesy of Garrett and Paco.

BIKE LANE ENDS.

Those words sound horrible, right? Well, the TA Brooklyn Committee is doing a ride as we begin a campaign to extend the Fifth Avenue bike lane/sharrow markings farther south into the borough, for a continuous stretch that eliminates signs like this.   

The road stretches across so many neighborhoods (Park Slope, Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, Fort Hamilton) and so many parks  (Leif Ericson Park,  Fort Hamilton Park, Shore Road Park) that we’re hoping to gather support for an extension of the bike lane/sharrow route all the way south to the Verrazano.

Check out the facebook invite for a bit more detail, and come join us.

SUNDAY, October 11th, meet at 11am, 5th ave & Flatbush.