The long-awaited separation of pedestrian and cyclist traffic on the Queensboro Bridge has come to fruition, with the new pedestrian walkway officially opening, as reported by Gothamist. Transportation advocates have long championed this change in a bid to create safer, more comfortable connections for New Yorkers wishing to traverse the bridge without a car. The dedicated pedestrian path, situated on what was once a vehicle lane, has replaced what had been an 11-foot-wide shared lane with cyclists on the bridge's north outer roadway.
According to the Gothamist report, Transportation Department Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez expressed hope for continued upgrades over the summer, aimed to further ease the movement across the bridge. The goal is to smoothly integrate the increasing number of pedestrians and cyclists into the city's shift towards greater car-independence. Alexa Sledge, director of communications at Transportation Alternatives, relayed to Gothamist the palpable excitement amongst first-time users of the new pedestrian path.
In contrast, the initiative has not been without its detractors. President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, criticized the removal of a vehicle lane for the creation of the pedestrian pathway. As highlighted in a post covered by the Queens Eagle, Duffy accused the move of further impacting "hard-working Americans who have to drive to work" and cited this as yet another example of what he calls "New York’s war on the working class."
Defending the city's decision, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards swiftly responded to Duffy's claims. In a public post, Richards suggested that the Secretary focus on addressing more pressing concerns, such as the air traffic controller crisis at Newark Airport, rather than the city's bridge safety improvements. "You don’t know the first thing about our bridges or the safety of our people," Richards wrote, as per the Queens Eagle. "Stay in your lane, literally."
The redesign of the Queensboro Bridge is part of a broader effort by New York City to adapt its infrastructure to the evolving needs of its urban population, which now includes more than 2.7 million people. Of those, nearly 7,500 are cyclists, with nearly 3,000 pedestrians crossing daily, a figure that's expected to rise, according to Gothamist. This advancement also follows the separation of cyclist and pedestrian paths on the Brooklyn and Washington Bridges, signifying a continuous stride towards a more sustainable and safe urban transport network.
