A mid-Brooklyn ride

I’m a seasoned bike rider who uses my bike mostly for shorter trips and the occasional longer recreational ride; however, I’m no stranger to a long commute.  Once I rode by bike from Park Slope, Brooklyn through Manhattan to Englewood, NJ (without a map); that was a 22 mile one-way commute and quite an adventure.  As part of my ride for a Sustainable Transportation course I planned a ride from my girlfriend’s house in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn (Dahill Rd at Ditmas Ave) to the Barclay’s Center in Downtown Brooklyn using bike lanes as much as possible.  

We were off to a good start with her having two flat tires and my bike pump breaking half way through inflating the 2^nd tire.  Expectedly (and no big deal) there is no bike lane on her street so we rode along with regular traffic for about 8 blocks, where we each got cut off by consecutive turning cars, as we made our way over to Ocean Pkwy that has a bike lane adjacent to the sidewalk, separated from the street by a grass and tree lined buffer: safety finally.  This lane is completely protected from traffic but pedestrians often ignore the railing that separates the walking from the biking traffic.  In fact, there was little or no signage that there were pedestrian and bike lanes until a few blocks south of Church Ave.  As we made our way north towards Church Ave the bike lanes became better marked with pavement markings through intersections and along the bike path.   

At the intersection of Church Ave where Ocean Pkwy becomes the Prospect Expressway the bike lane has an interesting and well marked shift from the west side of Ocean Pkwy to the service road that runs along the east side of the Prospect Expressway.  The pavement markings are very visible and easy to understand, which made what I was expecting to be a confusing intersection very simple to navigate.  The bike lane continues on the sidewalk of the service road then shifts onto the street with a 2 lane painted bike lane just before the traffic circle at Coney Island Ave.  Initially I wasn’t sure how the bike lane navigated the circle, I was uncertain which direction to go, but I figured it out pretty quickly.  Turns out the bike lane flows counterclockwise around the circle, just like the car traffic; who thought common sense would prevail?

At this point we were going to enter Prospect Park where there is no car traffic except during rush hour; however, due to damage from Hurricane Sandy the park was closed and we were diverted onto regular streets as there are no bike lanes heading north from this location.  A parks police officer told us to bike up Prospect Park SW which I believe used to have either a sharrow or bike lane, but after repaving it was not reinstalled.  The street is wide with a wide parking lane so biking still seemed pretty safe.  I think this would be a great spot for a bike lane or sharrow because the park’s bike lane runs south and north bound bikers would have to go out of their way by using the Prospect Park Drive’s bike lane to access Park Slope and all spots west of the park, besides, the street is wide enough to handle the lane with removing parking or driving lanes. 

Once we reached the traffic circle at the top of Prospect Park SW we were able to access the infamous 2 way protected bike lane on Prospect Park West.  This lane is very well marked with paint and signs.  There are warning signs with flashing lights to tell bikers to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk.  Additionally, there are signs on the pavement and on poles informing pedestrians to look both ways before stepping into the bike lane; however, I find they often forget to look.  This is probably the biggest danger to bikers and pedestrians regarding protected bike lanes adjacent to sidewalks. 

Grand Army Plaza: the bike lane goes where? 
Who has right of way?  This is a FAIL DOT

Arriving at Grand Army Plaza we encountered an “interesting” confluence of a pedestrian plaza with a busy two-way bike lane and no clear right of way.  This could be dangerous because bikers may be cruising into the plaza as families with small children are exiting Prospect Park through the plaza.  Once past this 25ft mess the protected bike lane continues through Grand Army Plaza and over to Vanderbilt Ave.  We traveled down Vanderbilt where a car was conveniently parked in our bike lane.  We then turned on Bergen St, which also has a bike lane and no geniuses parked in it.  We had smooth sailing until the intersection of Bergen St, 6^th Ave and Flatbush Ave where police cars parked in the bike lane forcing us into traffic.  This was the only instance of police vehicles blocking our bike lane; however, I experience it often during many other rides.  I’m very glad that the NYPD takes biker safety so seriously, thanks Big Blue.

We continued on Bergen St and turned north on 5^th Ave which has a sharrow.  After 2 blocks we were at our destination, the Barclay’s Center.  Bike parking was around back right off the Dean Ave bike lane, we had to ask security where the bike parking was, no signage for it L  It was hard to estimate how many bikes could be locked up back there but I’d guess over 500.  According to google maps the ride was 4.6 miles and should take 25 minutes, which was about our estimated travel time subtracting stops to take pictures and to chat with a friend we saw along the way.  Bumping into this friend is an example of how biking can allows ‘space’ for interpersonal interactions which improve social capital and a sense of community: hooray for biking!