Community Corner
B63 Drivers Say 5th Ave Bike Lane Causing Problems
One bus driver called the bike lane on the skinny thoroughfare "a recipe for disaster."
B63 drivers say the Fifth Avenue bike lane leaves little room for them to avoid opened car doors and speeding cyclists, according to the New York Post.
“I have close calls every day,” B63 bus operator Darren Davis told the paper. “It’s a recipe for disaster.”
“Nine times out of 10, you can swerve around, but here, there’s nowhere to go,” he added.
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The bike lane runs down Fifth Avenue between 23rd and Dean streets, and was installed a few years ago. In some spots, the bike lane is protected – or sectioned off from traffic by a physical barrier – but most parts of the route are merely painted lines.
Annie Shapero, a regular B63 rider, told the paper that she wishes the bike lanes had installed on Sixth Avenue instead, where there is much less traffic.
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The city wants to extend the Fifth Avenue bike lanes further south into Sunset Park, but Community Board 7 denied the proposal earlier this month.
“Many of my board members felt that this wasn’t necessarily an appropriate roadway to encourage people to use,” Jeremy Laufer, district manager for Community Board 7, told the Post.
