Today New York City made commuting between Brooklyn and Queens much more human: it opened the protected Pulaski Bridge Bike Path to lots of cheers with a celebratory ride over it led by NYC DOT.
The Pulaski Bridge had become dangerously congested over the last few years as more and more bikes, pedestrians and runners have crammed on to its narrow shared path. The solution? Remove one lane of the roadway and give the space to a bi-directional cycle track giving the older combo lane to the exclusive use of pedestrians.
The project was made more difficult since the Pulaski Bridge is a drawbridge and required many new design considerations that aren’t in your typical bike lane project.
This project should be inspiring to cities around the globe and United States. If we can take back a lane of roadway from cars and give it to alternative transportation, this should be able to be duplicated many places. And one place we’d love to see it next? The horribly congested, bike-pedestrian walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Tags: Bicycling, Bike Lanes, Clarence Eckerson, Cycling, Streetfilms, Video, Vimeo