A city plan to paint an 18-block-long bike lane along Bond Street in Boerum Hill got the thumbs up from members of a local panel last week.
The new lane will carve out much-needed space for two-wheelers and make the road safer in the process, city reps said at a community board meeting on the proposal on Feb. 20.
“This will increase awareness of the presence of cyclists,” transportation department rep Craig Baerwald told Community Board 6’s transportation committee, which gave the proposal its stamp of approval after just eight minutes of presentation.
The route has logged 31 crashes that injured cyclists since 1995, according to data compiled by the group Transportation Alternatives.
The proposed path is five feet wide and bikers-only except between Third and Douglass streets and between Wyckoff and Schermerhorn streets, where it morphs into a shared lane for cars and bike riders.
The Downtown-bound route will improve access to Brooklyn’s office core as well as the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges, according to a city spokesman.
But the effort will be moot if cops do not stay vigilant in keeping drivers where they belong, one road safety activist opined.
“Once the bike lane is installed, enforcement will be crucial,” said Keegan Stephan with the group Right of Way. “There is an epidemic of cars parking in bike lanes and not being ticketed in this city, and especially in this neighborhood, creating dangerous interactions between various road users.”
The full community board will vote on the proposal at the next general board meeting on March 12.
