A Washington Ave. Bike Lane? Not In Fort Greene

Washington Avenue may be getting a bike lane — it just won’t go through Fort Greene.

The city recently proposed a lane on the busy thoroughfare extending only from Eastern Parkway to Dean Street, meaning that Vanderbilt Avenue would remain the lone link between Prospect Heights and Flushing Avenue.

“It could have been another link towards Williamsburg,” said Cassidy Vare, the owner of on Lafayette Avenue. “Bike lanes are all well and good, but a network of lanes will be used even more.”

The proposed Washington Avenue lane will connect to the popular bike lanes on Dean and Bergen streets, which provide connections to Downtown Brooklyn.

Department of Transportation officials told Community Board 8 last week that Washington Avenue was in need of a traffic-calming bike lane due to its uncommon width, which leads to drivers jousting in two lanes instead of one. 

The avenue narrows after entering Fort Greene at Atlantic Avenue, but Vare said cars needed to slow down, anyway.

“It’s used as a thoroughfare through the neighborhood — it’s not a slow-paced road,” he said. “A lane would make it safer for all users.”

Vare may be on to something: there have been 170 accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists between 1995 and 2005 on Washington Avenue between Atlantic and Flushing avenues, according to Crashstat.org.

But for now, the lane is part of a larger project focusing on Prospect Heights, including major adjustments to the intersection of Washington and Atlantic avenues, such as the elimination of a left turn for east-bound traffic.

“This bike lane was proposed as an option in a broader traffic calming project in the area,” said a spokesman for DOT. “There are no additional proposals at this time to extend it further north.”

District Manger of Community Board 2 Rob Perris theorized that a bike lane would be more of a challenge to install on Washington Avenue in Fort Greene due to the road's narrower width.

“You can only work with the dimensions you have,” he said.

Last month a proposal by the city for a bike lane on Lafayette Avenue was met with skepticism from Community Board 2. That plan was then tabled until next year.

A DOT spokesman said a timeline was not in place for the lane on Washington Avenue in Prospect Heights, but that Community Board 8 would hold a vote on it next month.