New Brooklyn Bridge Connection to Resolve Bike-Pedestrian Conflicts

The planned new connection to the Brooklyn Bridge is intended to eliminate this conflict between cyclists and pedestrians by creating a new dedicated bike lane and establishing a pedestrian-only crossing between City Hall Park and the entrance to the bridge. The plan also calls for widening the crossing. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

No more conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians going to and from the Brooklyn Bridge. That’s the goal of the city’s new design for a crossing that is now a pinch point at the crowded entrance. 

“Today, the Manhattan approach is crowded, confusing, and forces pedestrians and cyclists to compete for space,” Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn said during the March 27 announcement. “So we’re redesigning it pronto. We’re giving pedestrians and cyclists each the space they need, creating a safer, more comfortable approach for everyone.” 

The city will eliminate a southbound traffic lane and replace it with a new dedicated bike lane on Centre Street. The new design follows a major reconfiguring in 2021 of bike and pedestrian paths across the bridge, separating the treacherous mix of the two by creating a protected two-way bike lane. Until then, the pedallers often found themselves on a potential collision course with pedestrians walking in their lane on the bridge promenade. That solution doubled the number of cyclists crossing the bridge, the DOT says. 

The city is promising the new entrance to be ready by June in time for the FIFA World Cup kickoff at the Meadowlands Arena and the thousands more visitors who will be crossing what is already a tourist-packed bridge.

Today, according to city figures, nearly 30,000 pedestrians and more than 5,600 cyclists on average cross the bridge daily. Many who are biking from the south and heading to the bridge find themselves in a bottleneck with pedestrians at a crossing they have to traverse to get to the bridge. The city’s solution is to add a protected bike lane along Centre Street by eliminating a south-bound traffic lane. The lane will lead to the existing bike lane that goes to the bridge. For pedestrians, the width of the southern crosswalk between the bridge and City Hall Park will be doubled. 

“This is an opportunity to rectify something that should have been done a long time ago,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.