Friday Video: Poor Bike Lane Design Shouldn’t be a Ticketable Offense

Surprise! The NYPD is taking advantage of bad cycling infrastructure to criminalize cyclists.

The Manhattan entrance to the Williamsburg Bridge bike path is confusing and dangerous, but that hasn’t stopped police from taking advantage of cyclists who are simply trying to navigate the bottleneck.

Summer Specialist Yoshi Omi-Jarrett visited the site to break down the issues with the intersection for this one-of-a-kind video:

Officers have been stationing themselves near the ramp, issuing summonses to cyclists who don’t follow the correct route. This sting is part of a larger quality-of-life initiative led by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, which has led to massive spikes in the number of tickets issued to cyclists. 

The only reason the cops can ticket cyclists here is because the design of the entrance is unclear and unsafe.

Those coming off the bridge must squeeze through a tight gap in a concrete wall while jumping off of the bridge platform. 

The jump has been the source of one man’s photo series, where dozens of cyclists can be seen catching air on their way off the bridge. It also can lead to crashes.

In the opposite direction, cyclists are supposed to navigate a 90 degree turn through a set of bollards that puts them in conflict with pedestrians waiting to cross Delancey Street.

So, what many cyclists do is just go up the off ramp, which is a more direct route, despite the fact that it is technically the wrong way. Even the aggressive proponents of cyclist enforcement should be able to see the obvious flaws in the design.

The Williamsburg Bridge is the most trafficked bridge for cyclists in the city with over 2.3 million rides across it last year. 

The concrete wall has been an issue since it was first built back in 2011, and while the Department of Transportation has received federal funding to redesign the entrance, the earliest completion date is 2029.