3 Miles Of Protected Bike Lane Installed In Brooklyn: DOT

EAST NEW YORK, NY — Work completed this week on three miles of protected bike lane in East New York — the longest of its kind in an area still recovering years after the deaths of two young pedestrians.

The bike lanes now run on parallel stretches of Cozine and Wortman avenues and running east to west from Fountain Avenue to Louisiana Avenue, authorities announced Thursday.

On Cozine Avenue, the painted, six-foot bike lane hugs the south sidewalk, separated from traffic by a buffer and a combined parking lane and pedestrian island.

On Wortman Avenue, a painted, six-foot bike lane hugs the north sidewalk, separated again by a buffer and mixed pedestrian island and parking lane.

The Cozine and Wortman bike lanes are years years in the making. And in a City Council District area where under six percent of street miles are covered by protected bike lanes, advocates have high hopes for the improvements.

"Every New Yorker needs safe places to walk and bike," said Kathy Park Price, Brooklyn Organizer for Transportation Alternatives. "This project makes important steps in building East New York's bike network and brings life-saving benefits to everyone using the street — especially students getting to school — by calming traffic and providing safe bike connections."

Speeding, poor visibility, uncontrolled intersections have all posed safety risks to pedestrians — and especially young students at the seven schools that sit around the project area, according to the Transportation department.

In 2020, the community saw two young pedestrians killed by vehicles in just three days.

In the following years, the Transportation department also implemented school slow zones, speed bumps and signal improvements in the area.

Citywide, the Transportation department was lagging behind its annual goals.

As of Sept 11, the city had only installed 10.7 of its required 50 miles of protected bike lane for the year, according to street safety advocates Transportation Alternatives.

At a City Council hearing last week, electeds criticized the Transportation department's poor communication and slow progress.

"Outside observers and advocates have to ask how committed the administration really is to the goals of reducing traffic violence, congestion, and carbon emissions,” said Council Member Gale Brewer, according to the New York Daily News.