Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bicycling

Here’s the DOT Plan to Make the Bronx Side of the Madison Ave Bridge Less Terrifying

The project would add safer pedestrian crossings and a short stretch of bike lanes protected by flexible posts at the foot of the Madison Avenue Bridge in the Bronx. Image: DOT

A stretch of 138th Street linking the Bronx to Manhattan is in line for walking and biking improvements from DOT. The project would add bike lanes and safer pedestrian crossings to the blocks between the Madison Avenue Bridge and Third Avenue [PDF].

Currently 138th Street has painted bike lanes east of Third Avenue, but the segment approaching the bridge is a free-for-all of excess asphalt, with dangerous crossings and no bike lanes.

"If you’re coming down Grand Concourse and you’re going to turn onto 138th Street, nothing is identified there," said Transportation Alternatives Bronx committee co-chair Kevin Daloia. "There’s no identifiable crosswalks, no identifiable bike paths. It’s a very busy area. The intersections there are very wide.”

DOT has sketched out 40 potential projects to improve the often scary walking and biking connections to the 16 bridges connecting Manhattan and the Bronx, and this is one of them.

At the foot of the Madison Avenue Bridge, where traffic is most intense, the project calls for a short stretch of bike lanes protected by flexible posts, as well as more direct marked crosswalks leading to the bridge and painted expansions of sidewalks and pedestrian medians.

Between Walton Avenue and Third Avenue, the bike lanes would be unprotected, and pedestrian crossings would be improved with painted markings and three concrete islands. At the southern end of the Grand Concourse, DOT also proposed pedestrianizing a semi-circular driveway outside the Fince del Sur Farm.

The proposal would pedestrianize this semi-circular roadway outside the Fince del Sur urban farm. Image: DOT
This semi-circular driveway outside the Fince del Sur urban farm would be converted to pedestrian space. Image: DOT
The proposal would pedestrianize this semi-circular roadway outside the Fince del Sur urban farm. Image: DOT

A related improvement considered at DOT's Harlem River access workshops last year would add protected bike lanes to the Madison Avenue Bridge roadway. That would be a more resource-intensive capital project going through DOT's bridges division.

DOT said last spring that it would release the final Harlem River Bridge Access Plan in the fall, but the document has yet to materialize.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Wednesday’s Headlines: Trip and Fall Edition

OK, so I fell on my face. Be nice. I'm old. Plus other news.

November 13, 2024

DOT Celebrates A Decade of Safety Improvements on Queens Blvd.

The former "Boulevard of Death" now has protected bike lanes running for nearly its entire length.

November 13, 2024

DOT Asks Judge to Dismiss Streetsblog’s Lawsuit over Agency’s Public Info Stall

The DOT is arguing that its slow response time before providing or not providing information is "reasonable."

November 12, 2024

Tuesday’s Headline: Six-Figure Ad Buy Edition

Congestion pricing supporters call Gov. Hochul out with a six-figure ad buy. Plus more news.

November 12, 2024

DOT: Tremont Ave. Busway to Be Installed in Spring

The 0.6-mile busway will only allow trucks and buses to use the entire stretch, while car drivers will need to leave the street at the first available turn.

November 11, 2024
See all posts