Cyclists and Pedestrians Now Make Up a Huge Share of Flushing Ave Traffic

Biking has skyrocketed on Flushing Avenue by the Brooklyn Navy Yard since the installation of bike infrastructure in 2010, according to new counts released by the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative. The route is slated for more biking and walking upgrades as the city builds out the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.

Cyclists and pedestrians comprised 25 percent of traffic on Flushing Avenue at Waverly Street on June 20, a Friday, and 41 percent of total traffic on August 16, a Saturday.

Bike traffic has risen with the addition of cycling infrastructure on Flushing Avenue and Williamsburg Street West, where preliminary segments of the greenway have been installed. Before any bike lanes existed on Flushing, DOT counted “more than 300” cyclists on a summer weekday. A combination of buffered and protected lanes were installed in 2010, and this June, Right of Way counted nearly 3,000 cyclists in 14 hours of closed circuit TV footage of Flushing and Waverly.

From the BGI press release:

On June 22, 2014, 2,966 bikes passed this stretch between 7:00 am and 9:00 pm. During the same period 1,030 pedestrians and runners passed and 12,046 vehicles passed.

In the August weekend count, Right of Way tallied more than 4,000 cyclists and a combined bike/ped mode share of 41 percent.

Next up is a major capital project, in the works for several years, which will bring a mile-long two-way bikeway to Flushing Avenue that will connect the Manhattan Bridge approach, DUMBO, and Farragut Houses to Williamsburg Street West, Kent Avenue, and Williamsburg/Greenpoint. The project will also narrow pedestrian crossing distances by around 20 percent.

“Each time new improvements like this occur and new connections are made we see a jump in greenway user volumes,” said BGI co-founder Milton Puryear in the release. “We anticipate another big jump when the Flushing Avenue capital project is completed.”

The Department of Design and Construction website says work on the project will start this fall, but Puryear told Streetsblog he’s expecting construction to begin in 2015.