Flushing Bike Lane Will Fail Like Greenpoint Path, Advocates Fear

GREENPOINT, BROOKLYN — Brooklyn cyclists fear that a "failed" Greenpont bike lane that has become overrun with cars is foreshadowing for a new path getting put in on Flushing Avenue.

A group of advocates — including bike store owners, Transportation Alternatives and Bike New York — sent a letter this month to the city's transportation and construction officials asking that they fix a West Street path that has become unusable for the walkers and riders it was designed for.

The 1.2-mile lane, part of a plan to build 14 miles of "greenway" along the Brooklyn waterfront, is almost always filled with illegally parked cars because its only barrier is a short, often flat, curb that drivers can easily run over, advocates said.

"What should be a multi-use path where families can bike or be otherwise active with small kids is heavily overrun by parked or stopped cars and trucks, including on weekends," the letter reads. "It’s simply not functioning as a bike path or greenway."

One of the advocates, Jon Orcutt of Bike New York, told Patch that it's rare to visit the lane on any given day and not find cars stretching all the way down the path south of Greenpoint Avenue.

Given that the road is now a one-way street going north, this can mean cyclists are forced into oncoming traffic if they run into a parked car going south in the lane.

Part of the problem, he said, is that when the lane was put in over the summer, parts of its curb were "buried" so that they lie flat on the street. A representative with the Department of Design and Construction said that the curb was put in to the Department of Transportation's specifications and is only not raised in areas where there are driveways or loading docks.

But even if the curb was raised the entire 1.2-mile path, Orcutt said, it probably wouldn't do much to fix the problem.

"That's kind of the general problem with the city overall today — drivers don't care," he said. "There needs to be a real barrier to keep them out."

That's why Orcutt and the other advocates are worried about a stretch of a Flushing Avenue bike lane that was recently unveiled between Clinton Avenue and North Elliot Place, where there seems to be a similarly low curb between the bike path and traffic lanes.

The DDC representative did not respond to questions about what exact barriers are planned for the Flushing Avenue lane, which will run from Washington Avenue to Clermont Avenue by the end of November.

For both lanes, the advocates insist that the only way to prevent cars from invading the path is to add physical barriers, such as plastic pollards like those that were put on a lane near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan.

Other enforcement, like giving out parking tickets, has done little to help the problem. Orcutt said the group has been in touch with the Greenpoint's 94th NYPD Precinct captain, who said truck drivers seem to just be "sucking up the cost of the tickets" and parking there anyway.

The Department of Transportation didn't answer Patch's questions about how the design for the barriers of both bike lanes was decided on, but did say they are looking into ways to make them better.

"We are currently exploring options to improve the greenway designs to ensure the safety of all road users," a representative said. "We look forward to sharing them once they have been finalized."

But the activists contend that so far those efforts haven't been enough, especially given that transportation officials seem to be quick to celebrate perceived success of their bike lane plans. DOT recently had a ribbon cutting for the 100th mile of protected bike lane put in by Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration.

Meanwhile, the West Street advocates have yet to get a response to their letter, which Orcutt said isn't the first time they've raised the issue about the Greenpoint path.

"We’ve raised this all year and the total lack of action is pretty worrisome," he said. "The city is cutting ribbons on other protected bike lanes and this failed bike lane is just sitting out there every day."