A long-awaited protected bike lane is coming to Bedford Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant beginning in the next few weeks, officials announced Tuesday — upgrading an existing painted bike lane over a year after the Department of Transportation proposed the idea.
"The addition of a parking-protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue will create a critical cycling link in an area where bicycle ridership is booming, while making the road safer for everyone—whether you’re walking, biking, or traveling by car," DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a statement. "The city has conducted thorough outreach along the corridor and looks forward to completing the project this year."
The new northbound bike lane will stretch from Dean Street to Flushing Avenue by the end of this year, DOT said allowing cyclists some refuge from two wide lanes of speeding traffic.
Between Halsey Street and Flushing Avenue, DOT will turn the existing curbside parking into a "floating" parking lane to separate cyclists from car traffic. The design is more complicated south of Halsey due to narrower street geometry and the way that Rogers Avenue and Bedford Avenue merge at Dean Street.
Bedford Avenue transitions from a road with northbound and southbound traffic at Dean Street, where the road intersects with northbound-only Rogers Avenue. To guide cyclists through the transition, DOT plans to paint a mid-block green lane one block south at Bergen Street.
The block between Dean Street and Pacific Street will be protected by concrete barriers – which will give way to plastic "flex-posts" between Pacific Street and Atlantic Avenue, according to DOT's plan. DOT will also use concrete to protect the bike lane from Atlantic Avenue to Halsey Street.
The project will also add loading zones along Bedford Avenue to keep curb access open to drivers, as well as painted pedestrian islands at intersection to increase visibility and reduce the distance needed to cross the street.
A pair of painted bike lanes on Hancock Street and Jefferson Avenue that were pitched to go along with the protected bike lane will not go in at the same time according to the DOT, because the agency is still working on community outreach on the bike lanes.
DOT first proposed the bike lane in the spring of 2023, with plans to install it by the end of the year. But Mayor Adams's mysterious brand of "community engagement" slowed the process down, much to the chagrin of Bed-Stuy's City Council Member Chi Ossé, who blasted the city for the delay.
With the project actually happening, a "thrilled" Ossé was handing out hugs instead of brickbats on Tuesday.
"Bedford Avenue has been among Brooklyn’s most dangerous corridors for too long," Ossé said in a statement. "This project is a win for everyone: As Bedford becomes safer, more people will choose to commute via bicycle, reducing pollution that impacts our communities and, notably, reducing congestion for Brooklynites who drive."
The protected bike lane also marks a major win for street safety advocates, who have an ongoing campaign to bring a protected bike lane to the entirety of the 10-mile length of Bedford Avenue. Activists celebrated the win but also called it a first step.
"I'm ecstatic that we will have a better, safer Bedford Avenue this year!" said Transportation Alternatives Brooklyn Organizer Kathy Park Price. "A broad coalition of supporters representing everyone from businesses and the BID to elected officials, schools and cultural orgs, worked tirelessly to accomplish this. Together with over 2,800 residents who signed our petition, we demanded a Bedford Avenue that is safer for all road users. This is the first critical step towards creating a safe cycling network in Bed-Stuy and to protecting all of Bedford Avenue."
This particular stretch of Bedford Avenue is a Vision Zero priority corridor in part because there have been five pedestrian deaths between Dean Street and Flushing Avenue since 2020, according to city figures.
The neighborhood itself is also a cycling hub, according to the DOT — 4,000 annual Citi Bike members reside in the boundaries of Brooklyn Community Board 3, which saw almost half a million bike-share trips in 2022 alone.
