Parks Department Repairs Hudson River Greenway Sinkhole

Happy Bike to Work Day: The Parks Department has repaired the Hudson River Greenway sinkhole.

Streetsblog first reported on the sinkhole, located just north of 181st Street in Washington Heights, almost a year ago. Temporary fixes didn’t keep it from widening. As the problem got worse, the Parks Department said the agency was trying to ascertain what caused the sinkhole, and who was responsible for repairing it. By early May it had swallowed most of the path.

Sometime between Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning, workers filled the hole with what looked like a mixture of sand, dirt, and asphalt, and placed a metal plate over part of it. This opened up more room for users to pass, but the rain made the plate slippery, and the area was in general a muddy mess. More important, as it turned out: Construction barrels were placed around the hole and lined the greenway for 20 to 30 yards in both directions.

Parks told us last week that the agency had hired a contractor, who was obtaining permits to close lanes on the Henry Hudson Parkway. We asked Parks spokesperson Phil Abramson by email yesterday if repair work was imminent. “Yes,” Abramson replied, “work is getting underway to make the repairs.”

@AndrewOnBike posted the above pic on his Twitter feed today.

The Hudson River Greenway is the trunk line for bike commuters who travel between Manhattan’s Central Business District, Upper Manhattan, and points beyond. The Parks Department often closes segments of the greenway, without notice and for extended periods of time, which interrupts commutes and can force cyclists and other users onto hazardous streets.

“This isn’t the only problematic section of the greenway, but it is the worst,” Kimberly Kinchen, Inwood resident and member of Bike Upper Manhattan, told Streetsblog. “I’m glad to see that Parks finally took action.”