New Bike Lanes Planned for Two New York City Bridges

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio used the occasion of his final State of the City speech last week to announce plans to remove a vehicle lane on two of the city's bridges to make space for new bike lanes.

Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Winnie Hu report on the nascent plans to add bike lanes on both the Brooklyn Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge in a plan that the mayor is calling "Bridge for the People."

According to the article, the announcement is the latest victory of bike advocates in New York during de Blasio's time in office. "During the mayor’s tenure, city transportation officials have built more than 120 miles of protected bike lanes as part of the city’s efforts to create 1,375 miles of bike lanes, creating the largest urban network in the nation," write Fitzsimmons and Hu.

The article includes the early engineering proposals for each of the bike lanes. On the Brooklyn Bridge, a two-way bike lane would be added to a vehicle lane on the Manhattan-bound since of the bridge. "The existing promenade area at the center of the bridge, which is elevated above the car lanes, will be used only by pedestrians. Cyclists will no longer be able to ride on the promenade, where there is currently a bike lane," according to the article.

On the Queensboro Bridge, the plan would convert the northern outer roadway of the Queensboro Bridge into a two-way bike lane. "The southern outer roadway, which is currently used by Queens-bound cars, will be reconfigured as a pedestrian walkway."