Tuesday: South Side of Willy-B Path Closed for Repair; TA to Survey Cyclists

willyb.jpgImage: NYCDOT via @nycbridgereport

Starting Tuesday, the south bike-ped path of the Williamsburg Bridge will be closed for resurfacing and other improvements. The changes on the way will introduce new markings, reducing conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians by separating bike and foot traffic into different lanes.

Users will be re-routed to the north path until the first phase of work is completed. Crews will then move to the north path as users are directed to the south. The full construction timeline is unknown at this point.

Also tomorrow, Transportation Alternatives will be surveying cyclists on the Manhattan side about the routes they take once they get off the bridge. How many people keep riding straight on Delancey Street, and how many are using the first available side street?

With DOT adding new bike routes on side streets in an attempt to divert cyclists from dangerous Delancey, the survey could provide useful before-and-after data, said TA’s Caroline Samponaro. The lanes on Suffolk, Rivington, and Stanton are slated for striping later this spring. "If people are continuing to ride on Delancey," Samponaro asked, " what does that mean?"

You can take the survey at the Manhattan base of the bridge from 7 to 10 a.m. tomorrow.

  • Great idea for a survey, but from what I can tell of the survey design, it seems a little limited. What about all the cyclists from Bushwick and Bed-Stuy who are using Flushing Ave and the Manhattan Bridge because they don’t want to fight their way along destriped Bedford Ave and across town on Delancey or Rivington? What about the induced demand of cyclists who would take a Delancey Street Bikeway if it was built, but who are using the L train until then?

  • According to this otherwise useless PDF from the DOT, construction will take 6 to 8 weeks, and the project should be complete by early June:

    http://transalt.org/files/campaigns/bike/04062010_willyb.pdf

  • J:Lai

    “According to this otherwise useless PDF from the DOT, construction will take 6 to 8 weeks, and the project should be complete by early June”

    Maybe June 2011 . . .

  • NattyB

    F-ck! this totally sucks. I mean, whatevs, but, yah, it still sucks. I’ll have to go a few extra blocks now.

    Any idea how long it will take? It’s not like ppl would obey more clearly demarcated lanes.

    What I wonder is, will they resurface the real steep part of the Southside near the Bk side entrance/exit ramp where it gets super duper bumpy?

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