It’s the missing link!
A city plan to connect up bike lanes on DeKalb Avenue and Schermerhorn Street — and reverse traffic on a block of Bond Street so riders can roll seamlessly between the two — will be a boon for local cyclists and get them off busy lane-free Downtown streets, said members of a local panel on Thursday.
“I think it’s great,” said Community Board 2 transportation committee member Hilda Cohen. “This is going to bring a lot more cyclists who are currently using Fulton Mall onto Schermerhorn Street.”
Committee members voted 9–2 in favor of the Department of Transportation’s plan to change the traffic flow on Bond Street between Livingston and Schermerhorn streets, and install a parking-adjacent bike lane on DeKalb Avenue from Flatbush Avenue Extension to Bond Street, and then a curbside one along Bond Street to Schermerhorn Street.
Bond Street flows directly off Dekalb Avenue and crosses Schermerhorn Street, but there is currently no lane between the two and riders hit “Do not enter” signs a block beforehand at Livingston Street, where the one-way street reverses direction and traffic becomes Downtown-bound.
Cyclists currently either have to take an alternate route, or ride illegally against traffic for that last block, said the man with the plan.
“There is this gap in the network we wanted to be able to improve upon,” said bike-lane honcho Hayes Lord told. “Cyclists are now going contra-flow for one block to be able access Schermerhorn.”
Some committee members worried the change will be a waste of time because construction workers erecting a hulking new building on that block of Bond Street obstruct the road with trucks and equipment, while others were concerned that drivers will just park over the new lanes anyway. But the majority supported the proposal, and it passed with minimal fuss.
The plan will now move onto the full community board, which will vote on it at a Feb. 8 meeting.
