DOT Hints at Upcoming Bike Projects in North Brooklyn

Last night DOT outlined some of the bike projects it’s planning for Williamsburg and Bushwick in the near future, including bike lanes on Meeker Avenue and improved southbound bike connections from the Williamsburg Bridge. While it didn’t come up at the meeting, the looming L train shutdown lends some extra urgency to bike network improvements in this part of the city. Every L train rider who opts to bike while the shutdown is in effect will be placing less strain on a bus and subway network that can use all the help it can get.

DOT Bicycle & Pedestrian Programs Director Sean Quinn sketched out ideas at a “Vision Zero town hall” hosted in South Williamsburg by Council Member Antonio Reynoso. Design details aren’t available yet, but Quinn did offer some insight into the agency’s timelines moving forward.

On Meeker Avenue, a proposal for “bike facilities” will be presented in the fall, Quinn said. DOT is currently in the process of improving pedestrian crossings along a dangerous stretch of Meeker, but bike lanes weren’t a part of that project. The agency also wants to improve bike connections between Meeker Avenue and Borinquen Place (and by extension, the Williamsburg Bridge), by installing bike lanes on Marcy Avenue and Rodney Street, which both run parallel to the BQE.

DOT is also looking at southbound bike connections from the Williamsburg Bridge. Currently, there is no direct way to get from the bridge bike path to the neighborhoods to the south. “There is a major missing connection across the mouth of the Williamsburg Bridge entrance,” Quinn said. DOT plans to make changes on South 4th Street and Havemeyer Street to address the issue.

Further east, the agency wants to connect the Bushwick and Williamsburg bike networks via a short stretch of buffered bike lane on Metropolitan Avenue between Grand Street and Onderdonk Avenue. The design (above) will go before the local community board in June.