Brooklyn Bus Route Redesign Gives DOT More Room For 'Bike Boulevards' on Dean And Bergen Streets - Streetsblog New York City

"The Mamdani administration will be able to create great bike boulevards on two key cycle commuting routes through Downtown Brooklyn, thanks in part to the in-progress Brooklyn Bus Network Redesign, which envisions rerouting bus service on Dean and Bergen streets west of Washington Avenue"

"That redesign should disarm arguments that proposed bike boulevards would undermine bus service. In the past, one roadblock to an aggressive redesign of Dean and Bergen streets has been the B65 bus, which runs between Smith Street and Buffalo Avenue on Bergen Street, and between Rochester and Third avenues on Dean Street. But the redesign of the Brooklyn bus network will shift the B65 north to Atlantic Avenue."

"The MTA says moving the B65 north has a number of advantages, including that Atlantic is wider then single-lane Bergen and Dean, that the new route will provide direct connections to the Atlantic Terminal transit hub and that buses will no longer need to make a difficult right turn from Bergen Street onto Smith Street."

"More important from the city Department of Transportation perspective, the reroute also frees up one mile on Dean Street and 1.5 miles on Bergen Street for a bike boulevard design that won't put cyclists in conflict with buses. DOT will also be able to design without bus conflicts in mind between Ralph and East New York avenues, which has advocates asking the agency to think big on the eastern and westernmost pieces of the corridors."

The Mamdani administration plans to create bike boulevards on two cycle commuting routes through Downtown Brooklyn. The plan relies on the in-progress Brooklyn Bus Network Redesign, which reroutes bus service on Dean and Bergen streets west of Washington Avenue. The B65 bus is a key factor because it previously ran along Bergen and Dean, creating a barrier to redesign. The redesign shifts the B65 north to Atlantic Avenue, providing wider roadway space, direct connections to the Atlantic Terminal transit hub, and fewer difficult turns. The reroute also frees about one mile on Dean Street and 1.5 miles on Bergen Street for bike boulevard design. Bergen and Dean remain major east-west bike connections between central Brooklyn and the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, and they host the Bergen Bike Bus event.

Read at Streetsblog New York City