New York will remake the Brooklyn Bridge: there will be less space for cars

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said that new cycle paths will appear on the Brooklyn Bridge and Queensboro Bridge, but they will use car lines to build them, which will reduce the space for cars. Details of the project told the publication New York Daily News.

The City plans to convert the inner (towards Manhattan) lane on the Brooklyn Bridge into a two-way cycle lane by the end of 2021. The track will be separated from the other two traffic lanes by concrete barriers, officials said.

Now on the Brooklyn Bridge, a combined pedestrian and bicycle path is located above the roadway. It is often crowded with tourists and traders. The congestion of walkers, sightseers and cyclists often creates chaos and crowding there.

Since the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the City has been exploring the possibility of creating a new cycling track on the Brooklyn Bridge.

All three lanes of the bridge towards Brooklyn will continue to be used for cars only.

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A new two-way cycle path will also be constructed on the Queensboro Bridge, which currently has nine traffic lanes and one combined cycle and footpath located on the north side of the bridge.

According to de Blasio's plan, the footpath will move to the southern part of the bridge, taking one of the road lines. This proposal has been put forward for years by city councilors and cyclist advocates. The mayor's office did not name the timing of the completion of the construction of the tracks on the Queensboro Bridge, it is only known that the project will drag on until the end of 2021, when de Blasio will leave the post of mayor.

New York has seen a significant increase in the number of cyclists during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their activity in the fall of 2020 increased by about 30% compared to the same period in 2019.