The city is moving to install a protected bike lane on a 1.5 mile stretch of Bedford Avenue, the Department of Transportation announced Tuesday, more than a year after the agency first pitched the idea.
Work will start this week to transform the existing painted bike lane between Dean Street and Flushing Avenue into a protected lane physically separated from vehicle traffic, a change local cyclists have long advocated for. The painted bike lane, critics have said, is dangerous and hard to traverse, particularly since it’s regularly blocked by parked cars.
“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,” said DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, in a statement.
The department has worked with the community to finalize the design, Rodriguez added, and plans to finish installation by the end of this year.
According to the project proposal, due to tricky street design, the lane will be barrier-protected at its southern end, between Dean Street and Atlantic Avenue; and parking-protected between Atlantic and Flushing Avenues. Along the entire stretch, the department will add pedestrian islands to shorten crossing distances and loading zones for easy curb access for delivery trucks. The addition of the protected lane is expected to narrow the street slightly and slow vehicle traffic.
The project will also address hazardous conditions at the intersection of Bedford and Atlantic avenues, where 10 pedestrians and cyclists have been injured since 2019 and two pedestrians have died. The northbound left turn signal will be delayed, to give pedestrians and cyclists a head start, and traffic-calming measures will slow down left-turning vehicles. New concrete medians will give pedestrians refuge to wait for the signal out of the path of traffic.
Bedford Avenue between Dean Street and Flushing Avenue is a Vision Zero Priority Corridor known for speeding, according to DOT, and has seen five pedestrian fatalities since 2020. Nearly 400 crashes have been reported on the corridor since 2019, according to NYC Crash Mapper, resulting in more than 500 injuries.
Elizabeth Adams, interim co-executive director of Transportation Alternatives, said the new protected bike lanes have been “years in the making.”
“Today, the paint-only bike lane along Bedford Avenue is dangerously designed, filled with double-parked cars, trash bins, and more – but by the end of the year, a fully protected bike lane will keep riders safe from Flushing to Dean,” Adams said in a statement. “We’re overjoyed that construction will finally begin on the Bedford Avenue protected bike lane – critical safety infrastructure that we’ve been championing for years and the first in this council district.”
DOT first proposed adding protected bike lanes to the northern part of Bedford Avenue in the spring of 2023, and initially planned to finish installing the project by the end of that year. Despite widespread support from the community, the project was repeatedly delayed, prompting protests and criticism from locals and elected officials.
In a statement, Council Member Chi Ossé — who openly denounced DOT and its delays — said the protected bike lanes would “put an end to” a dangerous situation on Bedford Avenue.
“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,” Ossé said. “For safety, environmental protection, and the efficiency of every mode of travel, I’m thrilled that this critical bike lane will now be protected.”
Painted bike lanes proposed for Jefferson Avenue and Hancock Street are still in the midst of the community engagement process, a DOT spox told Brooklyn Paper, and will not be installed alongside the Bedford Avenue lane as had originally been planned.
