Department of Transportation i POLLY TROTFENBERG, Commissioner July 7, 2020 Dear Colleagues: We appreciate your June 17, 2020 letter calling for additional space for cyclists on the East River Bridges. We would agree that the current spaces for cycling on those bridges are not ideal and that the bridges are pinch points in the cycling network. But we hope you would also agree that anything we do needs to consider the safety of cyclist and all bridge users as paramount. With that in mind, I wanted to just lay out some of the challenges involved with converting roadway lanes to cyclist use on heavily-traveled bridges designed well over 100 years ago. DOT agrees that the Queensboro Bridge south outer roadway should be converted to a dedicated cycling lane, the challenges we face are timing and budgetary constraints. Currently the south outer roadway in contrast to the north outer roadway -- is not safe to open to pedestrians or cyclists due to the fencing, which is easily scalable, and not compliant with modern safety standards. Those standards require water-adj acent bridge pedestrian and bike routes to have tall, secure fencing to prevent a pedestrian or cyclist from falling or jumping over the side, and to prevent people from dropping or throwing potentially dangerous items onto ships below. There would also be other alterations to the roadway needed to provide proper pedestrian access while also allowing access to the DOT garage on the Manhattan side of the walkway. Unfortunately these alterations are too extensive to pursue immediately given the City?s current fiscal crisis, but we hope to be able to make the south outer roadway safe and functional for cyclists and pedestrians in coordination with the larger bridge reconstruction contract we have underway and which will be working over the next two years. We recognize this delay is disappointing and if the fiscal circumstances change and we are able to accelerate that timetable, we will certainly do so. As you are aware, with respect to the Brooklyn Bridge we have unfortunately run into ?nancial challenges over the last couple of years in our efforts to evaluate the bridge cables as the ?rst step in potentially widening the existing promenade. The bids we received to do the job were prohibitively high and our extensive efforts to rectify that have not succeeded. And now with the City facing tremendous budget shortfalls, that project is even more challenging. We have been looking into the possibility of converting a travel lane, but in order to do so DOT would need to install a barrier of sufficient strength and height to ensure that cyclists are protected from motor vehicles. As you note in your letter, ?a two-way bike path should be at least 12 feet wide.? The travel lanes on the Brooklyn Bridge are 10 feet wide, with no shoulders, so to create a 12 foot wide two-way path, protected by Jersey barriers, which have a two foot base, we would need to convert two of the three travel lanes in one direction; taking a single lane would provide an 8? two way path, which is less than ideal. One way bike paths could be created 55 Water Street, New York, NY 10041 T: 212.839.6400 F: 212.839.6453 Department of Transportation i POLLY Commissioner by taking one vehicular travel lane in each direction, but ensuring cyclist compliance would be a challenge, as would ensuring we had the access we need for needed bridge maintenance work. We would also likely need to install additional fencing, since cyclists would be adjacent to edges open to the water or land below. Finally, DOT would need to look carefully at the detailed geometry where cyclists would enter and exit the roadway, to ensure no con?icts with motor vehicle traf?c at those locations, which might also require additional construction work. All of this work would also require appropriate funding, which, again, is a major challenge for the City at the moment. As these conversations continue, DOT will continue to be transparent with stakeholders about the progress of Queensboro Bridge work, and any future studies of Brooklyn Bridge studies. Sincerely, Mia Eric Beaton Deputy Commissioner 55 Water Street, New York, NY 10041 T: 212.839.6400 F: 212.839.6453 NEW YORK CITY -- Department of Transportation .- I POLLY TROTFENBERG, Commissioner Addressees: Laura Shepard, Bike Network Organizer, Open Plans Terri Carta, Executive Director, Brooklyn Greenway Initiative Jon Orcutt Advocacy Director, Bike New York Angela Azzolino, Director, Get Women Cycling in Fi eroa, Director of Organizing, Transportation Alternatives I 55 Water Street, New York, NY 10041 T: 212.839.6400 F: 212.839.6453