Advocates and elected officials rallied Saturday, calling on the Adams administration to follow through with plans to open more space for pedestrians on the Queensboro Bridge.
The city Department of Transportation has been preparing to open the south outer roadway of the bridge to pedestrians, but Transportation Alternatives, an activist organization focused on reducing car use, says the mayor’s office canceled the opening of the pedestrian path “at the last minute” and “still have not said when it will open.”
The group says work is complete, and the path was supposed to open last month.
A crowd of supporters, joined by Councilmember Julie Won and State Sen. Michael Gianaris, held their own ribbon-cutting for the space and marched across the south outer roadway.
They said the time to open the path for pedestrians is now.
“Right now, cyclists and pedestrians are sharing about 11 feet of space on the other side. It’s causing conflicts, it’s causing injuries, it’s not safe,” Emily Jacobi, Manhattan organizer for Transportation Alternatives, said.
“I’m extremely mad. I’ve been riding across the bridge for many years, and it just gets worse and worse,” cyclist Ken Coughlin said.
DOT data shows around 7,000 cyclists and nearly 3,000 pedestrians cross the Queensboro Bridge every day.