With the addition of the of the bike lane on Bedford between Rogers Ave (2 blocks south of Atlantic) and Division (three blocks south of Broadway), Bedford has become a great northbound street for bicyclists. If you can hold out for three more blocks, Bedford north of Broadway is eminently bikable because cars go so slowing, and Manhattan, the street Bedford terminates at, is tolerable for the same reason.
So why not fix the three terrible blocks between Division and Broadway? For many bicyclists, these are the last few blocks before entering the Williamsburg Bridge, so they seem worth paying attention to. The problem is that there isn’t really any space in the road for a bike lane. Parking spaces will have to be sacrificed if these last three blocks are to be made bike-friendly.
When I went by on a recent afternoon, I counted about thirty cars parked in the space I imagine putting a bike lane. I expect merchants and residents in this mostly Hasidic area would complain if the spaces were removed. But the spaces are actually used pretty lightly until the block directly south of Broadway, and we shouldn’t feel too bad about removing these spaces because along the Williamsburg Bridge approach on South 5th and 6th there is abundant parking.
I think it’s worth it, but I’m biased. It would be a cheap improvement. You think there is any way it could be politically viable, short of waiting for a bicyclist to get killed on these blocks?
If removing thirty parking places is impossible, what about just removing the two south of the entrance to the bridge, so that bicyclist transitioning from Broadway to the Bridge can see where they are going, and bicyclist exiting the Bridge can see if cars are coming?
I wish I could figure out how to have text below pictures in the general body, but for the moment, I will just have to include them below.
Bedford narrows quickly and without warning in an area which is not a big bicycle destination. The buffer almost taunts the bicyclist – just try and stay out of the motor vehicle lane!
This is the most heavily used block for parking – nine spaces will have to be lost.
If the political will doesn’t exist to sacrifice thirty parking spaces to make bicyclists safe, maybe it exists to sacrifice two? These are perhaps the least valuable and most obnoxious spots in the neighborhood.
