After killing the initial vision for the McGuinness Boulevard redesign, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has revealed its current plans for the project, which many locals say fail to adequately address safety concerns on the thoroughfare.
As previously reported, the redesign will entail two daytime moving vehicle lanes in each direction, which shift to overnight parking from 7 PM-7 AM. It also includes jersey barriers for bike lanes, a redesigned on-ramp at the BQE entrance, and loading zones to facilitate business deliveries and resident pick-up/drop-off. The DOT will also be painting sidewalk extensions “to shorten pedestrian crossings and improve safety.”
“This redesign for McGuinness Boulevard will make this corridor much safer for everyone, including drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists,” said Vincent Barone, DOT spokesperson. “Based on community feedback, NYC DOT will be extending the protected bike lane from Calyer Street to Meeker Avenue while also delivering a new network of bike lanes, better connecting cyclists to Meeker Avenue and points south, and adding sidewalk extensions at streets intersecting McGuinness Boulevard.”
The DOT has already started implementing bike lanes on McGuinness Boulevard from Calyer Street to the Pulaski Bridge. The agency plans to move forward with further installation in September.
In light of the tragic hit-and-run killing of local teacher Matthew Jensen, the project to improve McGuinness Boulevard began with the goal of curbing dangerous driving and cut-through traffic. However, the DOT’s redesign has shifted almost entirely to focus on bike lanes. While earlier versions of the plan included bike lanes, they also included measures such as eliminating a lane of traffic in either direction, which advocates say would have helped calm traffic. The DOT landed on the plan’s initial vision after multiple studies, workshops, and town halls, but Adams instructed them to go back to the drawing board, citing concerns with community feedback. However, reporting from multiple outlets has highlighted the role that Adams’ allies played in watering down the project, including his close advisor, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, a frequent critic of street safety projects, and campaign donor Broadway Stages. (Of the new redesign, a Broadway Stages spokesperson told Streetsblog that they supported the flex lane, but took issue with the removal of parking)
The redesign’s current implementation has yet to be a resounding success, with cars frequently parking in the bike lanes. The DOT did not respond to our question on whether there would be additional enforcement for illegal parking.
All of Greenpoint’s elected officials, as well as Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Comptroller Brad Lander, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso called out the decision in a recent statement:
“Greenpoint residents have demanded that Mayor Adams finally address the deadly conditions on McGuinness Boulevard and make our community safer, but he ignored us. After repeatedly changing his mind and undermining DOT’s evidence-based redesign, Mayor Adams is going forward with a plan that fails Greenpoint by preserving the most dangerous elements of this roadway that runs through the middle of our community. We will not stop fighting until we successfully prioritize the safety of our neighbors above all else.”
Local street safety group Make McGuinness Safe also released a statement, calling the decision “a failure.”
“Our coalition remains staunchly opposed to this plan, which maintains 4 travel lanes, does nothing to stop speeding and cut-through traffic, and removes parking from the Boulevard. We asked the city to protect our community—pedestrians and cyclists, children and elders—from future trauma after decades of suffering the consequences of an unnecessary speedway dividing our neighborhood. We asked for a road diet, which removes a lane of traffic, creating a safe, slow, local street for everyone.
Instead, we are losing parking, abandoning loading zones, and gaining an unsafe, unprotected bike lane adjoining a highway.”
Excerpt from Make McGuinness Safe statement
In short, the new McGuinness redesign makes approximately no one in Greenpoint happy (or safer).
There needs to be designated streets in Greenpoint just for Commercial vechicles, trucks and cars to do deliveries and personal business that does not allow bikes. This will help cut down the amount of accidents between bikes and motorist. Every street should not have a designated bike lane especially in commercial zones where trucks can’t see bikes.