LONG ISLAND CITY — Cyclists who travel between Brooklyn and Queens may soon have an easier ride, as the Department of Transportation looks to install bike lanes along the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge.
The DOT wants to add two 6-foot-wide bike lanes on the bridge linking Greenpoint and Sunnyside — one Queens-bound lane and one Brooklyn-bound lane, according to the agency's proposal, which was previously reported by Streetsblog.
The bike paths would be installed next to the bridge's existing sidewalks on either side of the roadway. Beginning at the center of the bridge, a four-foot-wide buffer will be added next to the bike lanes, the proposal says.
Each traffic lane will be narrowed by one foot to make room for the bike paths, and the four traffic lanes will merge into three lanes at the center of the bridge, where one Brooklyn-bound traffic lane will be eliminated, the proposal shows.
The city is also planning to add bike lanes on Pulaski Bridge this year, another Brooklyn-Queens connector.
Several other bike-friendly improvements are on the way for Sunnyside and Long Island City, with the DOT proposing new bike routes for several other roadways in the neighborhooods, according to another proposal DOT presented to Queens Community Board 2, which was previously reported by Streetsblog.
The proposal includes plans for two-way bike lanes on 11th Street between 47th Drive and 44th Road, and on the Honeywell Street Bridge, as well as two-way shared lanes on Jackson Avenue between 11th Street and Queens Boulevard and on a large swath of Greenpoint/Roosevelt Avenue between Skillman Avenue and the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge.
The DOT plans to present a final proposal of these routes to Queens CB2 in the next few months and to implement the changes later this year, a spokesman said.
Queens CB2 is expected to vote on the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge plan in April, and the DOT will present it to Brooklyn Community Board 1 later this month. The bikes lanes on the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge will likely be added late this spring, a spokesman said.
