What If Lafayette Avenue Had a Protected Bike Lane and Ped Refuges?

A rendering of what Lafayette Avenue might look like with a protected bike lane. Image: jacob-uptown

Hilda Cohen, Ali Loxton and 1,600 petition-signers are asking for a painted bike lane and a road diet on Brooklyn’s Lafayette Avenue: They’re hoping to calm traffic and improve the area’s bike network by turning one traffic lane into a bike lane, and they helped persuade Brooklyn Community Board 2 to ask NYC DOT to revisit the idea.

Streetsblog reader jacob-uptown asks: What if you reallocated that space to build a parking-protected bike lane and pedestrian refuges?

By flipping the bike lane and the parking lane, he suggests, cycling and crossing the street would be that much safer. He Photoshopped the image to demonstrate what a protected bike lane might look like on Lafayette (current conditions are below).

Like what you see?

  • Eric McClure

    Yes.

  • dporpentine

    What If Lafayette Avenue Had a Protected Bike Lane and Ped Refuges?

    It would be a bloodbath. Exactly as predicted for PPW by Neighbors for Cramming Our Agenda Down Your Throat. And exactly as we’ve seen happening, day after day.

  • I think the b38 stops on Lafayette too… large ped refuge islands such as suggested here could also serve as waiting space for straphangers.

  • Beautiful!  At the very least, the image belies the notion that two lines of paint on the road would cause massive congestion and delays.  That is one wide street.

  • J

    Paco,
    I’m pretty positive that DOT would put the bike lane on the left side of the street, as shown above, specifically so bike riders won’t conflict with B38 bus passengers. This is what has been done on all protected bike lanes on bus routes to date.

  • kevd

    I don’t like the fact the the cars on the left side of the street appear smaller than those on the right (and they’re the same cars).

    Poor photo shopping IMHO.  It makes the left side floating parking lane look smaller than it would need to be.  I don’t trust this image.

  • kevd

    But I support the idea!

  • Anonymous

    The big question from somebody who lives outside the city: Is the current photo showing a single wide curb lane or 2 lanes without a lane divider?

  • J

    @HamTech87:disqus  The existing condition shows 2 lanes without any marking separating them. There is also curbside parking on both sides of the street.

  • kevd

    There are currently 2 lanes. The lane markings are worn away on the block pictured.  And the proposed alteration would have 1 moving lane.  Though seemingly, a pretty wide one (it not quite as wide as pictured in the photochop).

  • kevd

    There are currently 2 lanes. The lane markings are worn away on the block pictured.  And the proposed alteration would have 1 moving lane.  Though seemingly, a pretty wide one (it not quite as wide as pictured in the photochop).

  • 300-Pound Man

    But where would I double-park?

  • 300-Pound Man

    But where would I double-park?

  • J

    @kevdflb:disqus Lafayette was resurfaced last year, and the striping separating the two lanes was never reinstalled.

  • J

    @kevdflb:disqus Lafayette was resurfaced last year, and the striping separating the two lanes was never reinstalled.

  • B38 rider

    The B38 carries a shit-ton of people — I just hope that removing the lane wouldn’t have a significant impact on the bus speeds.  With all due respect to the bicyclists, there are many orders of magnitude more bus riders.

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