bcobb

My favorite bike route to Jackson Heights (from Downtown Brooklyn)

Aug 3, 2024

At some point I’ll write about how I got back into cycling after moving to Brooklyn in 2016, riding a couple times, and then basically never riding again until 2020. For now, I just want to share my preferred route to Jackson Heights after chatting about it with Vikram a few weeks ago. The route is noteworthy because I’ve never been able to get Google to suggest it in full, despite it being more intuitive and less sketchy than any of the three typical routes they suggest. I am not done experimenting with it, and have a few tweaks I plan to make on my next commute home, but for now, here’s what I like to do:

August 24, 2024 update: after a few commutes with a new route, I’ve updated the post-Kosciuszko Bridge route to be a bit simpler, and to skip Queens Blvd entirely.

The route

1. Starting from around Fort Greene Park, make your way north to Flushing Ave.
2. Turn right on Flushing Ave.
   1. Tip: there’s a bidirectional bike path on the North side of the street, but there’s also an Eastbound bike lane on Flushing Ave. I’ve found this to be a bit faster than riding on the path, especially during the evening commute.
3. As you approach the BQE, head left on Williamsburg St.
4. Keep hooking left, and turn onto Kent Ave.
   1. Kent Ave has a bidirectional bike path that turns into a bidirectional mostly-separated bike lane. It can get a little sketchy as you approach Broadway and the Williamsburg Bridge due to construction.
5. Stay on Kent Ave for a couple miles until you get North 14th St.
   1. The long stretch of Kent Ave between the Williamsburg Bridge and N 14th St. can also be a bit sketchy. There’s just a lot going on: pedestrians, Citibikes, car traffic, etc.
6. Turn right on North 14th St.
   1. This is pretty well-marked, in the sense that there’s a traffic light and a green box for cyclists to turn right off of the bidirectional bike lane.
7. Turn left on Nassau Ave and ride for about a mile through the hustle and bustle of Greenpoint.
8. Turn right on Apollo St, and ride for a block.
9. Hook a sharp left onto the Meeker Ave sidewalk which also has a painted bike path.
10. Follow the bike lane to cross Van Dam St.
11. Get on the Kosciuszko Bridge path, and ride across the bridge.
12. After weaving through the gate at the bridge exit, stay straight on the sidewalk bike path.
13. When the path ends, cross over to the sidewalk path on the cemetery side of the street.
14. Continue onto the pedestrian overpass over the Long Island Expressway.
15. This dumps out onto a bidirectional sidewalk path. Stay on the path under the bridge.
16. After the bridge, cross Laurel Hill Blvd, and hook right to cross traffic on 43rd St so that you’re riding north on the right side of 43rd St.
    1. There’s a green box to the side of the oncoming bike lane traffic to wait for the pedestrian signal to cross.
17. Head north on 43rd St, crossing Greenpoint Ave, Queens Blvd, and Skillman Ave.
    1. The light timing on this stretch is unfortunate, and it’s hard to get a good rhythm going.
18. Turn right on Barnett Ave, and follow the bike lane onto 39th Ave.
19. Follow 39th Ave until it intersects with Woodside Ave.
20. Turn left on Woodside Ave and take the first right to get back on 39th Ave.
21. Keep going on 39th Ave, and turn left on 60th St.
22. Cross Broadway on 60th St, and turn right on 34th Ave.
    1. From here until the BQE, there’s a parking lane-protected bike lane.
23. Once you cross under the BQE, you’re in Jackson Heights!
24. The Strava route continues on the 34th Ave traffic-limited street until Travers Park.
25. Fin.

Previously

In the original version, I would turn off of 43rd St after a few blocks:

1. Head up to the light and turn right on 50th Ave.
2. Bike four blocks and turn left on 47th St. There’s a nice painted bike line to distinguish it from other left turns.
3. Head through the 48th Ave intersection and then take a right on 47th Ave.
4. Ride a few blocks and hang a left on 50th St before the road dead-ends.
5. Ride a block and turn right on the Queens Blvd frontage road. This has a relatively nice protected bike lane!
6. Ride until the cemetery on your right ends, and turn left on 58th St.
   1. There’s a KFC on the other side of Queens Blvd that I also use as a landmark.
7. Stay on 58th St to cross Roosevelt Ave under the 7 train tracks.
8. Turn right on 39th Ave.
   1. That is, when you get to the bridge, turn right to go under it. The road surface here is terrible.
9. Ride two blocks and turn left on 60th St.

And then pick up at “Cross Broadway”…

The new route is a bit slower, but has fewer turns, better roads, and does not take Queens Blvd.

What does Google say?

Here are the three options shown today for the same origin/destination:

Over the Greenpoint Bridge

This route is theoretically more direct, but the road quality on Greenpoint Ave can be terrible, and the cycling infrastructure is at most a painted bike lane. The completely separated paths of the Kosciuszko Bridge and the Pulaski Bridge are far superior. Plus, the turn from Greenpoint Ave onto Queens Blvd is confusing.

I suspect Google prefers this route because of the bike lanes. At first glance, more of Greenpoint Ave appears to have a dedicated bike lane than Nassau Ave. However, Nassau Ave east of Jewel St feels mostly like a quiet neighborhood street, whereas Greenpoint Ave is home to the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment plant, and becomes an industrial wasteland in Queens, with an obnoxious intersection with a Long Island Expressway off ramp.

I’m not a fan, but I do want to try the restaurants and bars near Calvary Cemetary.

Over the Pulaski Bridge

I prefer the Pulaski Bridge to the Greenpoint Bridge, but this route uses Northern Blvd to get from LIC to Woodside. Northern Blvd could be a great bike thoroughfare, but building construction barriers have created several stretches where pedestrians and cyclists need to share a narrow path, and businesses along Northern often park vehicles in the bike lane, forcing bike traffic to weave in and out of car traffic.

I will sometimes take this route if I’m riding for exercise, and going out early on a weekend day, when contending with the above problems is not quite so dangerous.

Over the Kosciuszko Bridge (but worse)

This is pretty close to my preferred route, but instead of going straight after getting off the Kosciuszko Bridge and taking the pedestrian overpass, it turns onto 54th Rd, which links up with 48th St. Maybe Google doesn’t realize it’s possible to use the overpass, or considers the 48th St bike lane to be faster. Whatever the case, it does not account for having to wait a long time to take the left on 48th St, or the generally poor riding conditions on 48th leading up to the Long Island Expressway.

What about from Manhattan?

Lately I’ve been taking the Manhattan Bridge when riding to and from work, which is just a few turns away from Flushing Ave. When I first started commuting, I would take the Williamsburg Bridge, but was frustrated in the morning by having to contend with construction in the bike lane, and in the evening by the general chaos of commuter traffic on the bridge. The Queensboro Bridge is my last resort, and I’ll only take it if I want to go somewhere above 59th St.

What’s next?

• I don’t love riding on Kent Ave, so I’m going to experiment with cutting east at the Williamsburg Bridge, and taking Borinquen Pl to Grand St before going north on Manhattan Ave.