The Manhattan Bridge side paths for pedestrian and bicycle traffic have been closed since the 1960s. The pedestrian path on the southern side of the brdige reopened back on June 25th 2001, with bikes having shared access. As I mentioned last week in my blogs about biking across the Manhattan Bridge's south path, the city has planned to re-open the "bicycle only" path this month. As I found out riding in to work this morning, the final phase of the renovation of the Manhattan Bridge appears to be complete. With little fanfare the New York City Department of Transportation has re-opened the fully ramped, "bicycle only" path on the northern side of the Manhattan Bridge. The City plans to hold a formal ribbon cutting later this month.
The new bike only path is fully ramped on both sides, a welcome improvement over the two flights of stairs on the bridge's west side path, which is now solely designated for walkers. Pedestrians will have full use of the southern path, while cyclists will have full use of the northern path. Moreover, the canopies that formerly adorned the pedestrian and bicycle paths at each tower have been restored.
Brooklyn-side access is on the northeast corner of Sands and Jay Streets, and Manhattan-side access is on the southwest corner of Canal and Forsyth Streets.
Over the last two years since the re-opening of the south path, the number of people crossing the Manhattan Bridge has increased from 150 to over 1,000 people per day.
Still, Transportation Alternatives says more much is needed to address the safety concerns still present in the approaches to the bridge:
There is still much to be done, however, to improve safety and access on both sides of the bridge.
In Brooklyn, people biking to the bridge via Jay Street -- 80% of path user -- must still contend with dangerous motorized traffic exiting the bridge's off-ramp. On Jay Street, between the bridge's motor vehicle off-ramp and Sands Street, the DOT installed barricades to limit bicyclist access and one "Share the Road" sign to alert drivers to the presence of cyclists. Rather than barricades, the DOT should install more signs, flashing traffic lights and a northbound colored bike lane to improve the safety of bridge-bound bikers on Jay.
In Manhattan, the DOT and the Parks Department should make bridge access safer and more convenient from the north and west. The agencies could create short, shared bicycle-pedestrian paths through Sara Delano Roosevelt Park to connect Hester Street east to west and Forsyth Street north to south, which are both dead-ended by the park.
The Brooklyn side path entrance/exit is at the southeast corner of Jay and Sands Streets. (Cyclists may ride on the sidewalk under the bridge.) The Manhattan side entrance/exit is at the southwest corner of Canal and Forsyth Streets. (Cyclists may ride on the sidewalk here.) This is a much smaller and less trafficked intersection than the crossing of Canal Street and the Bowery.
Having biked this bridge a few times in the past week, I couldn't agree more.
un questione
Nice. Now, is the entrance to the northern path on the bridge any better in convenience than the southern entrance? Do you feel like you're going to be mauled by a vehicle in the endeavor?
North Path is fully ramped.
The southern entrance has stairs going up. The northern path has a nice curving ramp path with grass around it that leads up to the bridge. Traffic is still a problem. Transportation Alternatives lobbied the DOT to fix the design issues, but it looks like DOT ignored them. Here is what we ended up with:
The Brooklyn exit/entrance is on Jay St. 150 yards up the hill from Sands St. There is an off ramp from the upper level right here that large numbers of cars and trucks use to access the BQE Via Sands St. There is presently no traffic signal at this point, but one is now needed. This is an accident waiting to happen.
At the Manhattan end, there are some of the same problems as on Jay St. I wish ther was a smoother transition that helps bridge cyclists and pedestrians to merge with the traffic flows naturally, not fight for your life with the auto traffic.
"Do not offend the Chair Leg of Truth; it is wise and terrible."--Spider Jerusalem