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Proposed Clinton Hill Bike Lane Up for Debate at DOT Community Workshops

 A cyclist on Vanderbilt Avenue, Clinton Hill's main north-south bike route.
A cyclist on Vanderbilt Avenue, Clinton Hill's main north-south bike route.
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Department of Transportation

CLINTON HILL — The Department of Transportation says it will conduct community workshops to plan a protected north-south bike lane for the Clinton Hill area, just a month after the agency withdrew a controversial proposal for a bike lane on Clinton Avenue due to overwhelming protest from residents.

The DOT announced that it would be seeking further community input before bringing another bike lane proposal to Community Board 2 at a brief presentation during Tuesday night’s transportation committee meeting.

The agency will host a series of workshops at a future date to gather ideas about where a bike lane could go, and how the DOT can make streets in the neighborhood safer not just for cyclists, but also for pedestrians and drivers, DOT’s Director of Greenways Ted Wright said.

“Everything will be on the table,” Wright said. “This will not just be us talking about Clinton Avenue again. We’ll be taking into account other alternatives.”

During a question-and-answer session, the majority of residents continued to protest the addition of any bike lane to the neighborhood.

“Why are we having workshops if we don’t want it?” said one resident.

Others urged the community board to vote down any future bike lane proposals.

“I’ve been at three or four of these meetings and each time it has been 97 percent opposed to the proposal to about 3 percent — about five or six hipsters in the room — for the proposal,” one resident said. “If that’s the situation I would hope the committee here represents the will of the neighborhood.”

Keith Bray, the DOT’s Brooklyn Borough Commissioner, assured residents the DOT would not create a new a bike lane if it did not receive community support.

“If a project does not reach community consensus and CB 2 does not support it we’re not moving forward with it,” said Keith Bray, the DOT’s Brooklyn Borough Commissioner.

The DOT tabled the proposal to add a two-way, protected bike lane to Clinton Avenue last month following several heated town hall meetings. The proposal would have turned Clinton Avenue, now a two-way street, into a one-way northbound street. 

“We saw a lot of people are opposed to the plan and we’re taking that into consideration,” Wright said. “We listened to the community loudly and clearly. At this point the plan is tabled.”