Bay Ridge’s community board flip-flopped on its opposition to bike lanes on Tuesday night, saying that two new cycle routes on Bay Ridge Parkway and Shore Road could be a good thing — for drivers!
In June, Community Board 10 rejected the Department of Transportation’s bike lane proposals, but this week, board officials had a revelation — the bike lane could actually be helpful to drivers.
“We’d be OK with a designated bike lane,” said Doris Cruz, chairwoman of the board’s transportation committee, which suggested that it would approve the lane if the city installed left-turn bays for cars between Third and Sixth avenues on Bay Ridge Parkway.
“The cyclists are there — so if we are going to approve these bike lanes, we want to be sure we’ve provided the safest possible environment for everybody,” she said.
That sentiment flies in the face of other board members’ comments in June, when the committee voted overwhelmingly against a dedicated and shared bike lane along Bay Ridge Parkway from Bensonhurst to Shore Road, as well as a second northbound lane along Shore Road between Fourth Avenue and 68th Street.
Board members complained that the city was taking away their car lanes, and that Bay Ridge has done enough for bicyclists, who have a dedicated bike path in Shore Road Park.
The city is expected to come back with a new proposal next month.
The bike lanes would be installed as part of the city’s Bicycle Master Plan, which calls for 200 miles of new bike lanes across town in the next three years. After that, the Department of Transportation plans to add about 50 miles of bike lane each year until 2030, when it is anticipated that the bike network will be finished.
