Eyes on the Street: The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge Bike Approach

The block of the bike path directly to the east of the Queensboro entrance has been paved. Photo: Clarence Eckerson

Clarence sends along a few more shots from the beginning of construction season. These come from Queens Plaza, where the two-way bike approach to the Queensboro Bridge is extending eastward.

The bike approach, part of a package of public space improvements to Queens Plaza, will eventually connect Vernon Boulevard and Northern Boulevard. The segment between the bridge entrance and Northern Boulevard is well on its way to completion.

Looking east toward Northern Boulevard, one block of the path has yet to be paved. Photo: Clarence Eckerson

The eastern end of the path. Photo: Clarence Eckerson
Biking to the bridge. Photo: Clarence Eckerson
  • Marsha Kramer’s Bike Lane

    Ahhh, we are gonna make Ed Koch proud on the bike lanes to his bridge. Such a pleasant site. Let’s name it the Koch Bike Connector. 🙂

  • carma

    speaking of this area. i happened to take drive along the lower deck exit ramp just out of curiosity to see how was it possible for those 2 cars that flipped into the storefront on the service road. although the DOT construction did make it a sharp cut off for the new path on the queens exit side. i cant see how a car doing even 30mph can not manage that ramp. the exit ramp is so narrow, you cant possibly manage more than 25 mph. its also riddled with potholes. why would anybody wish to go faster? I think DOT takes 10% of the blame for poor signage of the ramp, but it was nothing but driver stupidity and reckless speeding that caused them to lose control of the car.
    also, driving along the ed koch bridge, now i see a horde of 30mph speed limit signs. literally every 250 feet.

  • Denkman

    This is a huge improvement for the area, although that’s still a few too many lanes of moving traffic in the run up to the bridge.

  • I agree this a big step forward. Will make biking here much safer and enjoyable!

  • Mike

    Sad that even JSK’s DOT hasn’t done a single thing about the incredibly dangerous conditions on the Manhattan side of this bridge.

  • Andrew

    To be fair, DOT was planning to do protected bike paths on 1st & 2nd Avenues from Houston Street all the way up to 125th, but it was put off due to the bike backlash.

  • Troglobike

    Well Mike not sure if you remember what it was like 10 years ago, but I’ll take what we have in Manhattan for now.

  • J

    This is a HUGE improvement for the area. Due to the importance of the bridges, this type of improvement should be done at all bridge connections. The Manhattan side is still desperately in need of improvement, though.

  • J

    This is a HUGE improvement for the area. Due to the importance of the bridges, this type of improvement should be done at all bridge connections. The Manhattan side is still desperately in need of improvement, though.

  • J

    Also, this is a great reallocation of street space. It would be nice, Ben, if you could post some photos of the area before, where most of the space was given over to parking and crappy medians.

  • J

    Also, this is a great reallocation of street space. It would be nice, Ben, if you could post some photos of the area before, where most of the space was given over to parking and crappy medians.

  • J

    Also, this is a great reallocation of street space. It would be nice, Ben, if you could post some photos of the area before, where most of the space was given over to parking and crappy medians.

  • Clarence Eckerson jr.

    There is gonna be a nice public/park area at the most Eastern end, but it looks like that is not gonna open for a while after the bike path. There is so much more green, and best yet this new design makes it impossible for cars with illegal permits to park all over like they did on the previous median.

  • Guest

    “Sad that even JSK’s DOT hasn’t done a single thing about the incredibly dangerous conditions on the Manhattan side of this bridge.” And this isn’t there thing either.

    Yo, a little history here. How long ago did they start planning this thing? Seems like 10-15 years. This started as a City Planning rethink of the whole plaza approach.

  • Been watching the improvements day by day…can’t wait until it’s finally open!

  • J:Lai

    It’s a nice improvement. Makes that area less forbidding.

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