Community Board Calls For Extensive Study Into Lafayette Ave. Bike Lane

Community Board 2 pushed forward the process of installing a cyclist right-of-way along Lafayette Avenue in their General Meeting at  Wednesday night—albeit, with plenty of reservations.

Bowing to significant community support, CB2 ordered a city Department of Transportation study on the proposed bike lane.

However, unlike a similar DOT review conducted as part of the agency's , this study will look at the potential effect of the right-of-way on B38 bus service, according to CB2 district manager Robert Perris.

"There is considerable anecdotal information that service on Dekalb Avenue has been negatively impacted since the bike lane was installed there," Perris said, referring to the westbound B38 section of the bus route, which also runs eastbound on Lafayette Avenue.

 owner Brian Gluck didn't see the negative connection between new bike lanes and bus service.

"They [buses] are just like any other vehicle on the road. I think it’s a shot in the dark kind of argument," Gluck said. "I think the bike lane will slow everyone down and make it safer for everyone."

Another barrier to the Lafayette Avenue right-of-way is Community Board 3, with district manager Charlene Phillips also expressing concerns that B38 service will be negatively impacted—particularly along the narrower thoroughfare through Bed-Stuy.

"I would hope that any bike lane—not just this one—does it in a way that links to other routes in a network, instead of just stopping at some arbitrary bureaucratic boundary," Perris said.

The latest bike lane development came less than a day before a Thursday morning incident after he was struck and pinned by a vehicle at the instersection of Vanderbilt and Myrtle avenues.