During rush hour in Brooklyn last Friday morning, dozens of cyclists gathered to remember the tragic death of Elizabeth Padilla, and to help prevent any such future occurrences."Liz died, as too many cyclists do," regretted Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives (TA), "because she got squeezed between two trucks.""It has been one year since my sister died on these streets," wrote Sara Padilla in a letter that was read aloud at the site of the tragedy, 5th Avenue and Prospect Place. "Like many days before, she was riding her bicycle, beginning a new day, on her way to help make a difference in the lives of her family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and in the lives of those she had yet to meet. Since June 9, 2005, time has stood still, and yet so much has happened. It is to her credit that a resolution has been made by key decision makers to make city streets safer for cyclists in Brooklyn."Indeed, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has agreed to put up new signage along that stretch of 5th Avenue in Park Slope, from Carroll Street to Dean Street. "As you are likely aware," wrote Brooklyn DOT Commissioner Joseph Palmieri in a May 19th letter to Councilman Bill de Blasio, "the street at this location is too narrow for striping a bicycle lane and, therefore, motorists and cyclists must share the travel lane."We would like to inform you that the Department will make changes to this corridor to improve operations for motorists and cyclists," continued the letter. We will install "Bike Route" signage to designate this as a route for cyclists. Also, we plan on installing shared lane markings that should improve motorists and cyclists behavior, as well as additional signage that will encourage them to courteously share the road.""We want to thank DOT for the new signs from Carroll to Dean," said Aaron Naparstek, "but I really think it was too difficult to get this."It took the advocacy efforts of TA, the Padilla family, and the Park Slope Civic Council, along with the help of no less than three council members: de Blasio, David Yassky, and Letitia James. And the new signs still aren't even up yet. Last Friday, White improvised by drawing his own shared bike lane stencil on the 5th Avenue asphalt.He then led a slow bike ride from the scene of the tragedy, over the Brooklyn Bridge, to DOT's offices in downtown Manhattan. Each cyclist carried a flower for Liz and a note for DOT commissioner Iris Weinshall, which read, in part: "Thank you for announcing that the DOT will install new signs and shared lane markings on 5th Avenue between where the bike lane ends at Carroll Street and the Dean and Bergen Street bike lanes. I'm looking forward to this new biking connection and hope the DOT will install it without delay."Chris Gilbride, a DOT spokesperson, told the Star by phone that the signs were currently be made and he expected they would be up by mid-July.Yassky and James were both present at the intersection last Friday, and neither was entirely pleased with the city's policies. "The fact that it was only after all this happened that the city agreed," complained Yassky, tells us that we still have a lotta, lotta work to do.""It's unfortunate," criticized James, "that we create policies that are all about bringing more cars into the city." About Liz Padilla, James said, "She was young, she was talented, she was riding a bike." Looking up, she added, "Liz, you're in heaven now. There are no cars."