City To Add Bike Lanes To McGuiness Boulevard

BROOKLYN, NY — After more than a year of back and forth, McGuiness Boulevard in Greenpoint will be getting bike lanes and pedestrian islands, New York City Department of Transportation officials said on Wednesday.

The DOT said the final design will create one lane for driving, one lane of parking, and one lane of biking, on each side of the street between Calyer Street and Meeker Avenue.

The parking lane will be between the driving lane and the biking lane to protect cyclists from the busy road, and shrink the crosswalk for pedestrians, DOT said.

The approved design was one of three options the department presented to local stakeholders in May 2023, which included Keep McGuiness Moving, which is against the addition of the bike lanes, and Make McGuiness Safe, which is in favor of the bike lanes.

“This administration is committed to making our streets safer for all New Yorkers, no matter how they travel around our city—by car, by bike, or on foot,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “I am grateful to DOT for its commitment to McGuinness Boulevard and willingness to adapt to community and elected officials' feedback, and of course to New Yorkers for their candor."

As part of the street redesign, there will be dedicated truck-unloading space in the retained parking lane during peak hours so that trucks don't block the roads or bike lanes, DOT officials said.

DOT also said there would be pedestrian islands built, to shorten the crosswalk for pedestrians.

"This is happening because so many of us believed that the work of making Greenpoint better is not just the story of something that happened in the past, but is the urgent work of now. Together we have done it," Make McGuiness Safe organizers posted on Instagram Wednesday, celebrating the redesign.

Work will begin on the street's redesign this fall and continue until the end of the year, DOT officials said.