Queensboro Bridge Bike Lane Delayed Again

Pedestrians and cyclists who use New York’s busy Queensboro Bridge will have to wait at least another year to have their own dedicated lanes on the bridge, reports Julianne Cuba in Streetsblog NYC. Cyclists and pedestrians are currently forced to share the narrow north outer roadway, which has become increasingly crowded as the popularity of biking grows, creating dangerous conditions and leading to collisions.

The delay is the fourth for the project, which was originally scheduled for completion in 2022. “Ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2021 promised to turn the more than century-old span’s south outer roadway into a full-time pedestrian path by the end of 2022. But that deadline came and went, and now his successor, Mayor Adams, continues to push back the schedule.” 

DOT officials vaguely blamed “supply chain” and materials problems. Meanwhile, Council member Julie Won “questioned why the DOT can’t just cede the south outer roadway to pedestrians during ongoing reconstruction of the upper car lanes, but [DOT First Deputy Commissioner Margaret Forgione] claimed that removing another lane for service to car drivers would cause too much congestion.”