Roadway Bike Lanes Headed To Brooklyn, Queensboro Bridges: Report

NEW YORK CITY — Bike lanes will replace some car lanes along the Brooklyn Bridge and Queenboro Bridge, according to a report.

Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to announce the project — “Bridges for the People” — at his final “State of the City” speech Thursday night, the New York Times first reported.

The project represents a major victory for safe streets advocates who’ve long pushed for efforts to curb automobile use and promote walking, cycling and other modes of transportation.

Many details remained unclear as of Thursday afternoon, but the Times report gave the broad strokes. The city will close some car lanes on each bridge and reserve them for bicyclists, the report states.

“Converting car lanes into bike lanes on two of our most important bridges is a giant leap forward for New York City,” Danny Harris, executive director for Transportation Alternatives, said in a statement. “After decades of advocacy by Transportation Alternatives and thousands of our grassroots activists, we are thrilled that Mayor de Blasio has taken up our Bridges 4 People campaign with his Bridges for the People plan. 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.”

For the Brooklyn Bridge, where pedestrians and cyclists chaotically and often-dangerously jockey on its central promenade, the city plans to close the Manhattan-bound side’s inner car lane and convert it for bicycle use only, according to the report. The center promenade will be pedestrians only.

It’s a plan the Brooklyn Paper first reported months ago but received swift denials from city officials.

“We told you so!” the Paper wrote after the Times story.

The Queensboro Bridge plan will convert its northern outer roadway into a two-way bike lane and devote its southern outer roadway to pedestrians, according to the Times. The funding for the project was secured after Streetsblog coverage over the issue.

Read the New York Times story here.