Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
The reinstalled detour sign on Kent Avenue. Photo via Gothamist.

The controversy over the new bike lanes on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg (which recently resulted in the ouster of livable streets activist Teresa Toro as chair of the CB1 transportation committee) was chronicled in the New York Times over the weekend:

New York City has created more than 100 miles of bicycle lanes in recent years to encourage and accommodate the number of people who, compelled by a desire to preserve the environment or preserve their bank accounts, have taken to getting around on two wheels.

But the effort to turn the city into a place that embraces bicyclists has clashed with a long-entrenched reality — New York is a crowded, congested urban landscape where every patch of asphalt is coveted.

Gothamist has been following one of the most surreal aspects of the Kent Avenue drama—the ups and downs of the very unofficial "detour" sign pictured above, part of the anti-bike-lane campaign. On private property, it advises drivers that school buses will block the street and the bike lane while picking up and dropping off children. As of Dec. 31st, it was back up. As Gothamist writes, "The big question now is whether the city cares enough to step in and take it down."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Wednesday’s Headlines Think Globally, Act Locally

In a world where the federal government is aligned against all your goals, what else can you do?

February 5, 2025

Study: You’re Not That Much Safer In a 4,000+ Pound Car

For decades, American car buyers believed that bigger = safer. A new study finds that rule appears to have hit a ceiling.

February 5, 2025

Op-Ed: Reviewing America’s First (and Last?) Federal ‘Reconnecting Communities’ Pilot

The Biden administration exhausted the funds of the first-in-the-nation Reconnecting Communities program before they left office. But how did they spend the money — and what can we learn about how to do better next time, if advocates ever get another bite at the apple?

February 5, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines Are a Sanctuary

The Trump administration's latest threat would withhold funding from many big-city transit agencies and transportation projects in some blue states with "sanctuary" policies on immigration.

February 4, 2025

This Automaker Is Attacking Sustainable Transportation Even More Than You Think

The world's largest automaker has been ramping up spending to put climate change deniers in Congress, and crushing support for all kinds of sustainable modes in the process.

February 4, 2025
See all posts