Pedestrian-only lane on crowded Queensboro Bridge delayed
/
The city Department of Transportation said Wednesday that the construction of a new pedestrian lane on the Queensboro Bridge is delayed, the fifth time the work has been pushed back. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
The city's Department of Transportation said this week that the opening of the pedestrian-only lane on the Queensboro Bridge will again be delayed, a month after they told the Eagle that "no changes to the timeline" of the project had been made.
In August, the Eagle asked if there were delays to the work, which had been initially scheduled to be completed by the end of the summer. The DOT did not give a concrete answer, and ignored several follow up questions.
Now, the agency said that the new South Outer Roadway – which would be open to pedestrians, leaving the opposite North Outer Roadway open exclusively to cyclists – is slated to open in the “winter.”
It is the fifth time the completion of the project has been pushed back.
DOT blamed the delay on damage sustained to a large panel that was going to be used for other fixes to the upper vehicle roadway, which they said Wednesday night occurred “a number of months ago.”
“It turned out to be a bit of a setback, because we had to determine, does that get repaired, or does that have to be refabricated, which is a many month long exercise,” Margaret Forgione, first deputy commissioner of DOT said at a town hall with DOT officials at Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens on Wednesday night.
“Long story short, it was determined that that panel could be repaired, but it has set us back some number of months,” she said.
DOT did not respond to questions as to when the damage happened, and when it was determined it was enough to set the entire project back several months.
Because the South Outer Roadway is currently used for vehicular traffic, the DOT said that they didn’t want to begin work on the pedestrian project until they were convinced they could complete it quickly.
“We need the South Outer Roadway to move traffic,” she said. “We can't close multiple lanes up above and just say to heck with it and have a gridlock situation.”
DOT said they are hoping to stay on track with the new timeline.
“We are very anxious to get the South Outer Roadway open for pedestrians,” Forgione said.
The supposed desire to open the pedestrian lane was echoed by the department’s commissioner at the town hall on Wednesday night.
“We understand how important that bridge is for the movement of cycling and pedestrians,” DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodríguez said.
Regardless, the delay has local advocates perpetually let down.
“It's just really disappointing to learn that it won't even be until winter, especially because ridership keeps growing, the bridge has been smashing records,” said Laura Shepard, the Queens organizer for Transportation Alternatives.
Department of Transportation officials, including DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, addressed Queensboro Bridge construction delays and other issues at a town hall at Borough Hall in Kew Gardens on Wednesday. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
Despite the potential for “gridlock” on the bridge already known for congestion, the North Outer Roadway remains a treacherous trip for cyclists and pedestrians, Shepard said.
“It's unacceptable that city policy is still to prioritize the convenience of drivers over the safety of pedestrians and cyclists,” she said. “The consequences are just that users aren't as safe as they would be with the project, so we are just running the risk of more collisions on a path that we know is too narrow and too crowded.”
Local Councilmember Julie Won is also frustrated with yet another delay.
“DOT once again is choosing drivers over the safety of pedestrians,” she said in a statement. “There’s an urgent need for [the pedestrian walkway], and this delay will continue to endanger the nearly 10,000 pedestrians and cyclists who use the narrow shared path every day. DOT must commit to opening the South Outer Roadway without further delays.”
The work on the bridge, which has been long desired by locals and transportation advocates alike, is partially intended to reconstruct the South Outer Roadway, which would create a pedestrian-only lane on the East River crossing.
Currently, both people on two feet and people on two wheels share the narrow North Outer Roadway, resulting in a dangerous environment that has led to injuries.
The narrow paths for cyclists and pedestrians are separated by painted lines, but increased use of the bridge by cyclists and delivery workers in recent years have made those lines largely symbolic.
According to data reported by the transportation outlet Streetsblog, there have been at least 23 crashes, with 25 injuries on the North Outer Roadway since the beginning of 2021.
Transportation Alternatives’ data shows that since 2022 specifically, there have been 12 serious injuries along the bridge in total, including three pedestrians and four cyclists.
Queens-based attorney and transportation advocate Peter Beadle, who often represents cyclists and pedestrians who have been injured on the city’s streets, said he and his legal colleagues have dealt with a number of cases stemming from collisions on the bridge.
Beadle personally believes the North Outer Roadway’s lanes are too narrow and “completely inadequate.”
“[With] how narrow it gets, it doesn't take too much for you to just be that half an inch extra to the left, and now you're tangled with somebody,” he said.
While the traffic on the bridge will likely decrease over the upcoming colder months, the dangers on the North Outer Roadway will persist until the project is finally complete, advocates say.
