7th Ave. Bike Lane Painting To Begin This Month After Sunset Park Comes Around To Plan

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — The New York City Department of Transportation will begin work this month on a bike lane on Seventh Avenue that runs through Park Slope and into Greenwood Heights and Sunset Park.

The installation, which will only involve a fresh coat of paint, can begin because Community Board 7 approved the plan's southern extension after initially failing to do so.

Community Board 6, which covers Seventh Avenue north of 15th Street, approved its stretch earlier this year. Community Board 7, whose district is on the other side of 15th Street and south, initially did not in March. Residents there feared the bike lane could accelerate gentrification further south on Seventh Avenue.

"If they took a minute to look at who was riding bikes in Community District 7, it’s a whole lot of working cyclists, Latino and Asian men, making deliveries or on their way to work," Eric McClure, a Park Slope cyclist and executive director of StreetsPAC, told Patch. "It’s much more an important piece of safety infrastructure than it is a harbinger of gentrification."

"We re-visited it in April, and we voted in favor of it," CB7 District Manager Jeremy Laufer told Patch. "There was additional discussion amongst the board members."

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The DOT sent a notice to community boards that construction would begin in May but did not specify dates or potential road closures, Laufer said. Asked for clarification, a DOT spokesperson said: "We plan on starting implementation within the next 2 months."

"There are at least several 100 people who bike on Seventh Avenue currently without any lanes there," McClure said. "So this will help bring some order to the street. And probably enhance the safety for everybody a little bit. It’s a key shopping street in the neighborhood."

SEE ALSO: Hear About 4th Ave. Bike Lane From DOT Tuesday Night

From Park Place down to Carroll Street, Seventh Avenue will have a "shared" bike lane, where cyclists and drivers can, in theory, ride side-by-side down the busy Brooklyn thoroughfare.

Then, from Carroll Street to 20th Street, cyclists will get a dedicated lane, though one that isn't protected from the main road with a barrier, such as the bike lane planned for Fourth Avenue.

The street will go back to a "shared" bike lane from 20th Street until it hits Greenwood Cemetery at 23rd Street.

See the DOT's plan for the bike lane up to 15th Street here. And see the plan for 15th to 23rd streets here.

Images via NYC Department of Transportation.