Safer-span plan at Harlem River
THE CITY released a plan Friday to make the bridges spanning the Harlem River safer for cyclists and walkers.
The Department of Transportation is knitting together bike lanes and walkways around 10 bridges that cross the Harlem River in a plan agency Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said will “unite the neighborhoods” of upper Manhattan and the Bronx.
“A lot of them were built really with a legacy of focusing only on moving vehicles, and pedestrians and cyclists often only an afterthought,” she said.
Transportation planners, for instance, want to make the Willis Ave. Bridge the main span for cyclists, with a two-way protected bike lane. Pedestrians would see walker-friendly designs on the Third Ave. Bridge.
The work began Thursday, with a freshly painted bike lane leading up to the Madison Ave. Bridge.