West Side Greenway Barriers Fail First Test of Winter

Snow and ice covered much of the Hudson River Greenway this morning, rendering segments of the city's busiest bike path nearly impassable. From the looks of things, the agencies in charge of the greenway still haven't figured out how to work around barriers put in place to keep motorists out.

Shmuli Evers, who tweeted these photos, told Streetsblog he entered the greenway at Chambers Street at 9 a.m. He usually rides up to 34th Street but was forced to exit at 14th “because conditions were so bad.”

Evers's pics show long stretches of the path untouched behind concrete barriers that were installed after the October truck ramming attack. In places where crews had cleared the path, snow and ice between the barriers remained.

In November Streetsblog asked the state DOT and the Hudson River Park Trust if there was a protocol in place to remove snow around the barriers, which are too close together to allow large equipment to pass through.

The state DOT replied with a statement that said “countermeasures” were in the works, but gave no specifics. The Hudson River Park Trust did not respond to multiple Streetsblog emails.

Given conditions on the path after today's light snowfall, anything heavier would have been much worse for cycling. We’ve again asked the agencies that oversee the greenway about their snow clearance plan. Whatever it is, it's not getting the job done.

Also this morning, a reader reported that the greenway access path in Riverside Park, which the Parks Department is responsible for, was iced over.

And here are condition reports on the Queensboro Bridge: