Community Board 7 voted to support a plan by the city Department of Transportation (DOT) that would overhaul traffic patterns on the northbound lanes of Southern Boulevard.

As part of its last pieces of business before going on its summer break, the board voted to send a letter to the DOT backing the project. The plan dubbed Southern Boulevard Traffic Calming and Protected Bike Lanes Safety Project looks to narrow the northbound roadway, and add a two-way protected bike lane. The hope is to discourage speeding and make the road safer for pedestrians and cyclists. News of the board’s backing comes as the city grapples with a string of cyclists deaths, the latest happening in Brooklyn. So far, 15 cyclists have died on the city’s streets this year, prompting advocates to call the deaths part of a crisis. 

Southern Boulevard has two lanes on each side of the divided road lines with trees. Traffic is busy and cars appear to go faster than the citywide 25 mph limit, making the wide street hard to cross. Pedestrians crossing the road often get stuck in the middle, creating a possibly dangerous situation. 

The Southern Boulevard Traffic Calming and Protected Bike Lanes Safety Project would keep the two lanes of traffic both ways on Southern Boulevard. The right northbound lane, however, would be narrowed. It’s currently twice as wide as the left northbound lane, allowing space for a dedicated bike lane. 

The DOT would also add areas in the middle of the road for pedestrians to stand while waiting to cross with painted curbs and signaled street crossing for added safety. 

On the boulevard’s southern lane, the right turning lane that would take drivers to Mosholu Parkway would also be extended, providing space for 50 vehicles. 

So-called bus boarding islands are proposed to be part of the bike lane. These boarding islands–already installed in states such as California–would be designed as ramps so that cyclists could still ride over them, encouraging them to slow their speed. Unlike curb cuts that allow buses to pick up or drop off passengers without disturbing the flow of traffic, buses will stop on the street, allowing for faster pickups and drop offs for riders.

The northbound bike lane would make connections to the Mosholu-Pelham and Bronx River Greenways, a system of bicycle paths that connect the parks in the Bronx and other boroughs. The DOT would install an eastbound curbside bike lane from Bedford Park to the New York Botanical Garden’s Mosholu entrance, westbound bike lanes on a path from the Botanical Square Metro-North station to Bedford Park Boulevard, and bike lanes for both directions from the Botanical Square Metro-North station to the Mosholu Parkway. 

The goal of the added bike space is to provide access for the West Bronx to the Greenway system, which connects cyclists to the parks of the Bronx and other boroughs. The DOT also hopes that the bike lanes will encourage residents to go out and exercise. 

In 2017, there were 444 bicycle crashes involving motor vehicles in the city, resulting in 451 injuries and one fatality. The 52nd Precinct, covering a portion of Southern Boulevard, recorded 36 bike-related crashes and injuries. 

The DOT has been working to create more bike lanes in order to make the roads safer for cyclists and the sidewalks safer for pedestrians. In 2017 and 2018, the DOT installed 45.3 miles of bike lanes throughout the city. 

This year, they plan to install 30.3 miles of bike lanes. More than two miles of the 30.3 miles of bike lanes are in progress, while the remaining 28 miles are still in development, including two projects in the Bronx, the Southern Boulevard project and the Willis Avenue project.