City Ramps Up Better Bicycle Approach to Brooklyn Bridge
The City’s Department of Transportation (DOT) is finalizing a proposal to streamline and simplify the lane that cyclists use to approach the Brooklyn Bridge. DOT planner Patrick Kennedy explains, “in the past three years, since we installed the new in-roadway protected lane on the Brooklyn Bridge, there has been significant increase in bike volume.” Since the bike lane was inaugurated, he says, cycling traffic has increased by 149 percent, to an average of more than 5,000 bikes per day.
While the path to the bridge from Centre Street is largely seamless, the approach from the south is more challenging. “There’s a lot of possibility for bad interactions because we have very high pedestrian volume at that crosswalk,” Mr. Kennedy says.
The proposal to improve this situation consists of eliminating one lane from the southbound side of Centre Street, south of Chambers. This left lane will instead be turned into a protected, two-way bike path, serving cyclists leaving the bridge and heading south, as well as those approaching the span from the south.
This part of Centre Street will be left with a single, southbound traffic lane, serving both drivers who plan to turn left onto the bridge, along with those continuing further into Lower Manhattan. “We can’t get rid of that 180-degree turn,” Mr. Kennedy says, “but we can simplify it and remove the mixing with pedestrians. The new turn will have a bigger radius, and cyclists will have to look only for other cyclists, instead of worrying about walkers, too.”
At its September 24 meeting, Community Board 1 enacted a resolution supporting this plan, while also asking for additional elements that are not include in the DOT proposal, such police traffic enforcement to ease backups during the first months of the new configuration, along with pedestrian managers to guide both cyclists and walkers out of each other’s way.
Mr. Kennedy says that while no start date for construction has yet been announced, DOT expects to complete the rollout of the new lanes before the end of 2025.