Part Of Queensboro Bridge Roadway To Be Converted Into Bike Lane

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — The outer roadways along the Queensboro Bridge will be converted into a two-way bike lane and a pedestrians-only lane, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday.

Construction will start this year on the project, "Bridges for the People," in a major victory for the safe-streets advocates who have long pushed the city to create more space for walking, cycling and other modes of transportation.

The bridge, also called the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, currently forces pedestrians and cyclists to compete for the same narrow space on the northern outer roadway. The claustrophobic setup has created the perfect storm for many crashes, particularly as bike and foot traffic dramatically increases, Streetsblog NYC has reported.

Under de Blasio's plan, the northern outer roadway will become solely dedicated to cyclists. The southern outer roadway will be reserved for pedestrians.

The bridge opened in 1909 to connect Midtown Manhattan and Queens. Subway trains were added to the bridge in the 1950s, according to the New York City Department of Transportation.

The southern outer roadway, which would be just for pedestrians under de Blasio's plan, used to be car-free but was converted to a roadway in 1996 under Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Cars now take up nine lanes on the bridge.

Work on the conversion is scheduled to be completed in 2022.