Cross the Verrazano with a Bicycle!

It's finally here - Bicycle racks on MTA buses crossing the Verrazano bridge.  The press release states service will not begin until Sunday, September 6.  We've seen many of the S53 and S93 buses in Bay Ridge already setup with racks on  their front bumpers, though yet to see a bike taking a ride.  We're definitely going to put the racks to good use.  NYC has finally begum to catch up with most every other city in North America.  This is a game changer for cycling in South Brooklyn and Staten Island.

MTA Press Release

Daily New Article

Hey Ridge Article and how-to-use video

Bicycle Rider Icons on Marine Avenue

Painting the bicycle rider icons on a rainy Saturday morning, marking the new shared bicycle route.

Finishing touches on the bicycle route along Marine Avenue, Brooklyn.

Bicycle Sharrows on Marine Avenue

This week, Sharrows began to appear along Marine Avenue between Ft Hamilton Parkway and Oliver Street.  The markers run both northbound and southbound providing connection between the long-existing on street bicycle lane from Oliver + Colonial Road and the well used basketball courts and playground at Ft Hamilton Avenue.

These sharrows might be the first new bicycle pathway markings of any kind to be introduced to the neighborhood since 2009 when a dedicated lane was introduced on 7th Avenue.

Perhaps this is the first installation of a series of upgrades decided upon in 2012?  See our prior post here.

BTW, what's a sharrow? "A shared-lane marking or sharrow[1] is a street marking installed at locations in Australia, Canada, and the United States. This marking is placed in the center of a travel lane to indicate that a cyclist may use the full lane."

Here they are with some of the northbound sharrows in place and the southbound ones are marked and awaiting final painting:

From the basketball courts at Ft Hamilton Ave, looking up Marine Ave to 4th Avenue.

Marine Avenue at 4th Avenue.

Marine Avenue at 3rd Avenue.

Marine Avenue near 98th Street

Marine Avenue at 95th Street and Ridge Boulevard.

Marine Avenue at 93rd Street and Oliver Street, leading to the Colonial Ave Bicycle Lane.

Plumb Beach Connector Repaved

After many years of delays, a short section of the paved bicycle lane at Plumb Beach has finally been repaved.

It was in poor condition until 2011, then Hurricane Irene partially wiped away large sections of the pavement.  In early October 2012, huge mounds of fresh sand were delivered to the area, likely a part of the beach and inlet's stabilization as part of the ongoing Belt Parkway reconstruction work.  But on Oct 29+30, 2012, Hurricane Sandy Sandy moved those sand mounds and parts of the beach dunes across the entirety of Plumb Beach and the highway.  This segment of the pathway became a 1/4 mile long sand pit.

It has now been replaced, along with  some adjacent dune and beach grass stabilization.  Welcome to the new 2015 Plumb Beach!

Verrazano 50th

In case you missed it, the Verrazano Bridge turned 50 years old this week and received a subtle request to provide bicycle and pedestrian access across its span.  Brilliant.


The activists, Right of Way. organized the airplane and banner flying across the sky during the formal ceremony.

More news:

New York Post

Daily News

Pix11 video (minute 1:30)

Beautiful, Glowing Bikes

DOT, NYPD and Mayor Bill de Blasio, how about bringing this material to NYC as a part of Vision Zero?  

 

If you happen to be near Eindhoven in the Netherlands, you can walk or bike down a glowing path modeled after Van Gogh’s masterpiece. The one kilometer lane is the work of Daan Roosegaarde, the same designer responsible for the glowing stretch of nearby smart highway.  Read more at Wired.

Bush Terminal Piers Park to Open Soon

For years, BRBR has occasionally bicycled the desolate streets of First Avenue, knowing that a future park was being built along the waterfront but perplexed about how to actually find the place or access it.  It looks like there has been some significant progress on the "public" aspect of this park.  First, EDC has announced that various permits, the management plan and Memorandum of understanding (MOU) with NYC Parks have been finalized.  An opening should be scheduled in November.  Second, there is actually a pathway to enter the place!  See our pics from a Sunday foray along the water.

The new entrance is at 1st Avenue and 43rd Street

The entrance is a part of a truck gate into the warehouse area

There is a small pedestrian gate to the side of the truck gate

Follow the path to the building with a statue of Mr Irving Bush and take a left

Park entrance.  There is a small parking area to the left.

The main park entrance gate

A view through the gate to a pathway leading to the park