4 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 13, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
DOT shoots down plan for more pedestrian,
cyclist space on Ed Koch-Queensboro Bridge
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e city’s Department of Transportation
nixed Transportation Alternatives’ call to
close the eastbound outer roadway of the
Ed Koch-Queensboro Bridge to vehicular
traffi c — at least for now.
Transportation Alternatives wants that
the roadway, dubbed the South Outer
Roadway because its on the south side of
the bridge, reserved only for pedestrians
and cyclists, but the DOT maintains that
now is not the time — largely due to the
roadway’s fencing.
Not only does the agency plan to prioritize
City to implement coronavirus checkpoints
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
Editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e New York City Sheriff ’s Offi ce
will work to enforce the state’s quarantine
order by setting up coronavirus
checkpoints at bridges and tunnels to
instruct visitors on the city’s quarantine
rules, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on
Wednesday.
Offi cers will randomly stop cars to
educate travelers on quarantine requirements
and on Th ursday, teams from the
city’s Test and Trace Corp will be at
Penn Station and the Port Authority Bus
Terminal to ensure that travelers fi ll out
contact forms. Visitors from one of the 35
states on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s travel
advisory list caught breaking quarantine
rules can face fi nes of up to $10,000,
the mayor said.
According to Dr. Ted Long, head of
New York City’s Test and Trace Corps, a
fi ft h of new cases in the city are from travelers
coming from other states. Travelers
in mandatory quarantine will be provided
with food delivery, medication delivery,
direct access to doctors and in some
cases free hotel lodging.
On Aug. 2, 66 people were admitted
to a New York City public hospital
with possible COVID-19, 286 people
were admitted to a public hospital
intensive care unit and 2 percent of New
York City residents getting tested for the
virus are testing positive, according to
City Hall.
vehicular traffi c until work on the
upper roadway is complete in 2022, but a
spokesman says the fencing is only half
the height deemed safe for foot traffi c
over a bridge.
Th e advocates, citing reduced use of
the bridge and a boom in cycling as the
pandemic still looms in the minds of
New Yorkers, seemed to anticipate this
response in the letter claiming that while
the reasoning was sound, the current climate
of health safety should shift their
priorities.
“Between 2006 and 2016, vehicle traffi
c on the Queensboro Bridge fell 8.5
percent, while bike trips doubled and
pedestrian trips tripled. Due to concerns
from COVID-19, millions of New Yorkers
remain wary of returning to the subway
and bus system and are increasingly
turning to bikes, scooters, and their own
two feet as their main form of transportation,”
the Transportation Alternatives
letter to the DOT reads. “Th e DOT has
cited reasons for inaction, such as using
the outer roadway to stage construction
equipment for bridge repairs, and the lack
of barrier fencing. Th ese considerations
are important, but they cannot prevent
the city from rising to the challenge and
fi nding ways to prioritize the creation of
more space for the thousands of pedestrians
and cyclists who need it in this
crucial moment. Emergency street redesigns,
such as open streets and ‘pop-up’
bike lanes, have been successfully implemented
in quick response to the growing
demand for space to walk, bike, and
social distance.”
While work goes on on the upper roadway,
DOT says they lack the resources to
mend fences, making them high enough
to prevent them from being scaled.
On Aug. 5, DOT Commissioner Polly
Trottenberg with other transit leaders said
that their funding, due to the pandemic
and the city $15 billion defi cit, has been
slashed by 12 percent this year. But during
the height of the pandemic in New York, a
90 percent reduction of vehicle traffi c was
clearly seen and CitiBike ridership has hit
new heights, she acknowledged.
“DOT has examined the modifi cations
that would be necessary to convert the
South Outer Roadway to a pedestrian
path and the North Outer Roadway to
exclusive bicycle use,” a DOT spokesman
said in response to the letter. “However,
due to ongoing work on the Queensboro
Bridge Upper Roadway, the South Outer
Roadway will be needed for vehicle diversions
through the end of construction in
the fall of 2022. In addition, even for temporary
use during this crisis, the South
Outer Roadway’s current level of fencing
is not safe for pedestrian or cyclist use,
as the existing railing is scalable and only
about half the standard height for bike
and pedestrian paths on NYC bridges.
Moreover, installing the necessary safety
fencing would be diffi cult to accomplish
while our resources are limited.”
Proposals to convert the roadway have
been passed nearly unanimously by community
boards on both sides of the East
River as both cyclists and pedestrians
struggle for a piece of the current foot
path just 9 feet wide.
Over 3,500 have signed the petition
coupled with the letter also signed by
Councilmen Jimmy Van Bramer and Ben
Kallos.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Traffi c in the Queens Midtown Tunnel
File photo by Christina Santucci
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
link
link
