Bridges

An expansion of the Brooklyn Bridge walking and biking path could get underway by 2019 if it's folded into a rehab project that's already in the pipeline, DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said this afternoon.

The days of pedestrians and cyclists fighting for scraps of space on the Brooklyn Bridge may be numbered.

Next year, the Port Authority will begin a seven-year, $1.03 billion renovation of the suspension cables on the George Washington Bridge [PDF]. Announced in March 2014, the project includes new ramps to the bridge’s bike and pedestrian paths, eliminating stairs and a hairpin turn. But it won't widen a bike path that is already too small for the amount of cycling traffic it receives.

You read that right: While the driver who brazenly struck and killed Matthew von Ohlen last weekend has yet to be apprehended, police officers are handing out frivolous tickets to cyclists on the Manhattan Bridge.

Last night DOT outlined some of the bike projects it's planning for Williamsburg and Bushwick in the near future, including bike lanes on Meeker Avenue and improved southbound bike connections from the Williamsburg Bridge. While it didn't come up at the meeting, the looming L train shutdown lends some extra urgency to bike network improvements in this part of the city. Every L train rider who opts to bike while the shutdown is in effect will be placing less strain on a bus and subway network that can use all the help it can get.

DOT's plan for a two-way protected bike lane on Chrystie Street [PDF] got a unanimous vote of support from Manhattan Community Board 3 last night. The project is scheduled for implementation in the fall.

The Queensboro Bridge biking and walking path could be closed for construction on weeknights for months, cutting off access at times when many people still use it. Members of Transportation Alternatives’ Queens Committee have a solution: Allow cyclists and pedestrians to use the bridge’s south outer roadway, which is closed to car traffic after 9 p.m.

DOT has erased a short contraflow protected bikeway that linked the Highbridge neighborhood to the car-free High Bridge in response to FDNY concerns about the movement of emergency vehicles. The project was part of a package of biking and walking improvements in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan implemented last year, timed to coincide with the re-opening of the High Bridge to the public [PDF].

DOT unveiled its plan for a two-way protected bike lane on Chrystie Street last night [PDF], a project that promises to drastically improve safety and reduce stress for people biking to and from the Manhattan Bridge.