Hear More About 4th Ave. Bike Lane At DOT Workshop

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — The New York City Department of Transportation will hold another workshop next week on its plan to install a parking-protected bike lane on Fourth Avenue from Boerum Bill to Bay Ridge.

This workshop, the third such event by DOT since announcing the plan, will be held on Wednesday, July 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the Marien-Heim Senior Center of Sunset Park, on Fourth Avenue between 45th and 46th Street.

DOT's first public meeting about the proposal happened in May in Park Slope, a neighborhood full of cylists who largely received the proposal positively. The other one was in Sunset Park.

And at that meeting, City Councilman Carlos Menchaca, who represents Sunset Park, asked the DOT to come back and do another session in Spanish, Chinese and Arabic, which are also spoken in the diverse district.

This session will have Chinese and Spanish translators available at it, DOT says. The workshop will follow a similar format as the first two, while incorporating feedback gathered at those sessions.

The DOT's plan would keep the two lanes of traffic on Fourth Avenue, while narrowing them slightly, and add a bike lane in between the side walk and a narrowed parking lane, making for a safer route for cyclists traveling down the major Brooklyn thoroughfare.

The plan would also slightly narrow the "pedestrian refuge islands" in the middle of the road, where people crossing the street can stand safely.

At the last meeting in Sunset Park, not all residents were thrilled about the proposal.

"This concerns me," Elizabeth Yeampierre, a community activist, told Patch at the May meeting. "The community had already said they didn’t want bikes on Fourth Avenue. They said they want it to be pedestrian friendly. They wanted it because there’s so many children and elderly going across. In reality, cyclists treat pedestrians the way cars treat them."

READ MORE:

New 4th Ave. Bike Lane Would Run From Boerum Hill To Sunset Park

4th Ave. Bike Lane Proposal Draws Mixed Reactions In Sunset Park

All images via DOT