Bicycle Infrastructure

Eyes on the Street: A Sign of Respect

Looks like there's a new preferred bike route from the Brooklyn Bridge to the west side of Manhattan, and DOT's signs and markings division wants you to know about it. The sign in this shot, snapped by Streetfilms' Clarence Eckerson at the foot of the bridge, looks more like what you'd see from behind a windshield than from beneath a bike helmet.

By Ben Fried

10:25 AM EDT on June 6, 2008

Looks like there’s a new preferred bike route from the Brooklyn Bridge to the west side of Manhattan, and DOT’s signs and markings division wants you to know about it. The sign in this shot, snapped by Streetfilms’ Clarence Eckerson at the foot of the bridge, looks more like what you’d see from behind a windshield than from beneath a bike helmet.

Clarence reports that, for a moment at least, he felt like he’d been put on equal footing with drivers. It may be a small step, but this newfound attentiveness to directional signage for cyclists sure beats bent over pedestrian safety signs, and hard-to-spot share-the-road signs.

Ben Fried

Ben Fried started as a Streetsblog reporter in 2008 and led the site as editor-in-chief from 2010 to 2018. He lives in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, with his wife.