Fort Greene's Bike Lane Coverage Is Double The Rest Of BK: Study

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — Fort Greene's community district has double the bike lane coverage than the rest of Brooklyn and nearly three times the rate city-wide, new health data shows.

Brooklyn's Community District 2 — which stretches from Clinton Hill's Classon Ave to the edge of Brooklyn Heights — has bike lanes installed on 26 percent of its streets, according to the district's 2018 Community Health Profile.

That number soared passed the average bike-lane coverage for Brooklyn, which fell at 13 percent, and the city's rate, only 10 percent. It was beaten only by Crown Heights' community district, which had the most bike-lane coverage in the city at 45 percent, and Park Slope's district, which had 29 percent.

District 2's percentage was also significantly higher than several nearby neighborhoods like Sunset Park, with 9 percent, or the most lacking spots in the borough, like Bensonhurst, where only 2 percent of roads have bike lanes.

The new health report also looked at pedestrian safety in each of the city's districts.

Community District 2 only saw 11 out of 100,000 pedestrians hospitalized for injuries, which was lower than the Brooklyn and New York City average of 23.

The 2018 health reports come out at a time when the city is considering its street safety very seriously following a large spike in cycling deaths.

So far in 2019, 18 cyclists have died on New York City streets, most recently a30-year-old who was hit by a tractor trailer in Sunset Park. Of those 18, 13 of the cyclists died on Brooklyn streets.

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced a $58.4 million plan in response to the fatalities.

The mayor's plan, dubbed "Green Wave," calls for adding 30 miles of protected bike lanes a year, up from the current average pace of 20 miles each year, with the goal of installing more than 80 miles of them by the end of 2021.

The city currently has 480 miles of protected bike lanes, which separate cyclists from traffic with some sort of physical barrier.

De Blasio's plan also proposes 10 "bike priority districts" in parts of Brooklyn and Queens with few bike lines and high numbers of cycling fatalities, the report says. The city undertook a similar effort two years ago only to see injuries rise in eight of the 10 designated zones, according to Streetsblog.

Patch reporter Noah Manskar contributed to this report.