Transit

$2.76M will fund needed Greenway link in Canarsie

Will provide bicycle access to Gateway National Park

June 24, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

People fish on Canarsie Pier, part of Gateway National Park. The new greenway link will give more bicyclists and walkers access to this popular spot. Eagle file photo by Lore Croghan

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As part of $176.8 million in state transportation funding announced on Friday by Gov. Kathy Hochul, $2.76 million has been given to New York City to construct a two-way, grade-separated greenway path along Flatlands Avenue in Canarsie.

This project will construct a two-way, grade-separated greenway path in Canarsie along portions of Flatlands Avenue, East 76th Street, and Paerdegat Avenue North.

The Greenway is slated to build out a critical missing segment of the existing bike network; provide safer access to the waterfront and parks, including Gateway National Recreation Area; and encourage healthy lifestyles by promoting the use of non-motorized forms of transportation.

The new Paerdegat Avenue North segment of the Jamaica Bay Greenway will enhance waterfront access for residents living in Flatlands and Canarsie through completion of a missing connection between the existing New York City bicycle network and Canarsie Pier, part of the National Park Service’s Gateway National Recreation Area.

Currently, there are open spaces on each side of the Belt Parkway with no bicycle facilities and few pedestrian links, according to the Governor’s Office.

The project will permanently construct a two-way, grade-separated greenway path along Flatlands Avenue from Ralph Avenue to East 76th Street; East 76th Street from Flatlands Avenue to Paerdegat Avenue North; and Paerdegat Avenue North from East 76th Street to Paerdegat 1st Street.

Additionally, this project will construct a curb extension and grade-separated bicycle connection at the intersection of Paerdegat Avenue North and Seaview Avenue, providing a safer crossing to Canarsie Park.

Plans for the new greenway link were spelled out in a 2017 report from the state Department of Parks. In 2014, DOT installed a two-way Greenway path from Flatlands Avenue to Seaview Avenue, along the Paerdegat Basin Park.

This path has significantly improved neighborhood connections to Canarsie Park, However, this segment of path does not directly connect to the Jamaica Bay

Greenway or the nearby existing bicycle route network.