Status Report: Sands Street Bike Path Ready Next Week

sands_st_paved.jpgYou’re not really supposed to do this yet, but next week the bridge approach on Sands Street should officially open.

There’s a fresh coat of asphalt on the Sands Street bike path, and guys on the construction crew say this long-awaited approach to the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge should officially open for riding next week. Still to come: pavement markings and fencing.

Streetsblog’s offices are just a short walk away on Water Street, and I figure it’s not often that you get to show a piece of heavy duty bike infrastructure round into form, so here are a few more pictures showing the progress since last week. To appreciate how much this project will improve commutes for cyclists, check out the "before" pictures from last September.

sands_street_crew.jpgThe crew works on the section between Navy Street and Gold Street.
sands_street_signal.jpgThis signal, at the intersection of Sands and Gold, is for cyclists.
fence_markings.jpgThis is the barrier separating the bike path from auto traffic. The silver markings are there to guide installation of a fence.

  • Geck

    Nice. What is up at the other end of the Manhattan Bridge bike path? Construction trailer were recently parked there with a sign saying something about improvements and access control to the bicycle and pedestrians paths.

  • Does anyone know if the section between Navy and Gold is going to get some bollards or something between the traffic lanes and the bike lanes? On two occasions this past week prior to the asphalt being laid down I noticed vehicles parked in the bike lane. It will be interesting to see if this becomes a problem in the future.

    It also seems that there will be special signal timing for bicycles at the intersection of Gold and Sands, however it doesn’t look that way at the intersection of Jay and Sands. Hmmm…

  • I read on Streetsblog sometime this year that the Manhattan side of the bridge, as it overhangs Forsyth, is due for a complete rework.

  • Yes! I saw this riding the B into the City over the bridge. I’ve ridden the Dekalb > Ashland > Sands over the bridge (after [summer]school) and that was the hardest part of the ride vibrating into the rest of my body through my thin 700x28c wheels. I have to get a new rear tire however as a skid patch formed.

    nice to see this development!

  • J. Mork

    I saw this new “bike highway” this weekend. I quite like the concrete barriers as-is. Why the compulsion to fence bikers in like caged animals?

    (Here’s a picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dirtycrumbs/3753631962/ )

  • So this morning between Navy and Sands I saw an ambulance, a Con Ed truck, and a contractor’s van all parked in the new lanes (sorry no photo). It’s not even officially open yet and it’s already starting.

    I think bollards are in order because we can’t expect any enforcement from NYPD.

  • Sorry, meant between Navy and Gold.

  • Aaron

    Am I correct that this doesn’t help with Jay street at all? Coming from Manhattan we’ll still often have a long wait for a light before we can get across the exiting vehicular northbound bridge traffic to go South on Jay. Coming from much of Brooklyn going North on Jay we’ll have the even worse predicament of having to avoid getting clobbered by that same traffic before making a right to the bridge, the light only benefiting us by stopping or slowing traffic enough so that we can weave through it.

  • Correct. This mainly helps people who use Ashland/Navy to get to/from the bridge, not people who use Jay Street.

  • Aaron

    Has any creative thought gone into the Jay Street problem? Closing that vehicle exit probably isn’t in the cards given the political realities. Having a two-way separated bike lane on the West side of Jay could at least get us safely to and from the crossing. Could something be done to make Adams two way for bikes. Turn Pearl and High into a bike path or wind a path between the buildings all the way to Tillary? A bike path overpass? Ah. It’s nice to dream. I’ll have to try Ashland/Navy sometime. It seems so out of the way for where I’m usually headed to/from in Brooklyn, great for Fort Greene though. Why am I not surprised to see you here Mike.

  • If the Carlton Avenue Bridge was fixed, it would be a lot easier to get from the swath of Brooklyn between the Gowanus, Atlantic Ave, Prospect Park/Ocean Parkway, and the Shore Promenade to Navy Street. Without the bridge, Jay Street is a lot more convenient.

  • J. Mork

    I agree it’s lousy that Carlton is out, but I don’t find it appreciably more difficult to use Vanderbilt.

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