Car lanes crossing 2 of New York City’s significant bridges are set to be transformed right into bike-only lanes in an attempt to improve cycling in the city.
Lanes on both the Brooklyn as well as Queensboro Bridges will certainly now be scheduled for cyclists as component of the mayor’s “Bridges for the People” plan.
The city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, introduced the advancement in his final State of the City intend on Thursday.
” The Brooklyn Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge are iconic as well as deeply linked in the daily lives of countless New Yorkers,” he said.
” Now, it’s time to bring them into the 21st century and also welcome the future with a radical new plan.”
On the Brooklyn Bridge, autos from the innermost lane of the Manhattan-bound side will be banned as well as the lane will certainly be transformed right into a two-way secured bike lane.
The existing shared boardwalk area will be exchanged a room just for pedestrians.
On the Queensboro Bridge, the north outer highway will certainly be changed right into a two-way bike-only lane and the south external road will be made into a two-way pedestrian-only lane.
The lanes are the result of years of lobbying by bicyclists and transportation supporters for more room on the usually jam-packed pedestrian lanes.
” Converting automobile lanes right into bike lanes on two of our essential bridges is a huge leap ahead for New York City,” Danny Harris, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, informed The New York Times.
” We eagerly anticipate collaborating with the de Blasio administration on this crucial brand-new job and also other initiatives to enhance infrastructure for cyclists and also pedestrians on bridges as well as streets across the 5 districts,” he added.
State assemblyman David I Weprin, a Democrat from Queens who is running for city financial officer, alerted the newspaper that the brand-new advancements might create problems down the line.
” There are still plenty of people that drive right into Manhattan as well as small companies that rely upon those bridges,” Mr Weprin stated. “It absolutely will be an issue once the city comes back.”
Together with the new lanes, Mr de Blasio revealed that 5 brand-new Bike Boulevards, streets that are developed to give bicycles take a trip priority and also placed bicyclist safety and security first, will be constructed in the city.
” These boulevards will certainly have unique design aspects to slow down automobile speeds and lower quantity with web traffic diverters, signal timing modifications, shared streets, Open Streets and entrance therapies,” he said.
The mayor likewise revealed that Open Streets will certainly come to be an irreversible part of the city’s landscape, with many of the roads included in 2014 to be repeated in 2021.
The adjustments come as the need for open outside area in the dense city has actually just escalated amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected over 590,000 in the city.