Nearly eight years after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his Vision Zero initiative to protect pedestrians and cyclists, the mayor is poised to announce that his administration will install dedicated bike lanes on the Brooklyn and Queensboro Bridges.
The "radical new plan," first reported by the Times and slated to be announced during the mayor's State of the City speech on Thursday night, is called "Bridges for the People," according to an email from the Mayor's Office.
"On the Brooklyn Bridge, we will ban cars from the innermost lane of the Manhattan-bound side to transform it into a two-way protected bike lane and turn the existing shared promenade space into a space just for pedestrians," the email states. "On the Queensboro Bridge, we will begin construction this year to convert the north outer roadway into a two-way bike-only lane and convert the south outer roadway to a two-way pedestrians-only lane."
A spokesperson for City Hall said that the goal was to complete the Brooklyn Bridge bike lane by the end of 2021. The Queensboro lane will take "slightly longer lead time."
Cycling rates over the city’s East River bridges into Manhattan have roughly doubled since the pandemic began, as tens of thousands of New Yorkers have turned to biking over mass transit or automobile use, part of a worldwide biking boom. Transit advocates and city planners have criticized the de Blasio administration for being slow to adapt. The DOT has been kicking around designs for a new bike lane on the Brooklyn Bridge since 2016.
On Twitter, there was much rejoicing from cyclists and pedestrians at the news of the new bike lanes, especially those who have long loathed risking life and limb on the dangerously crowded promenade of the Brooklyn Bridge.
In 2019, an average of 16,500 pedestrians crossed the bridge each day.
In October, a group of elected officials marched over the Queensboro Bridge to demand more space of cyclists and pedestrians.
“Converting car lanes into bike lanes on two of our most important bridges is a giant leap forward for New York City," said Danny Harris, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, in a statement. "We look forward to working with the de Blasio administration on this vital new project and other efforts to improve infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians on bridges and streets across the five boroughs.”
There are currently 545 miles of protected bike lanes in the city, and 524 miles of conventional painted lanes, while there are 6,300 miles of streets overseen by the DOT. The de Blasio administration built 35 miles of regular bike lanes in 2020, and was on track to finish 25 miles of protected lanes, five miles short of their goal.
Check back later for more coverage of the State of the City speech.
