Whoops. In March, we announced that full-time bicycle and pedestrian access to the North Outer Roadway of the Queensboro bridge would begin in late 1999. Now, the latest word from the Department of Transportation is that opening of the bridge’s full-time bike and pedestrian path will be delayed until August 2000. We based our earlier announcement on information from officials at DOT and the Mayor’s office, who, we later found out, were unacquainted with the specifics of the construction contract. The contract requires the North Outer Roadway be open for motor vehicle traffic during construction on the Inner Roadway. Thus, from February until the permanent path opens in August, cyclists and pedestrians will use the South Outer Roadway. Bridge users must use the much-disliked shuttle bus on weekdays from 2:30-7:30 pm.

On a less disappointing note, in late 1999 the DOT had a design consultant study the feasibility of building a fly-over ramp on the bridge that would connect the new bike path to Second Avenue, in addition to the existing connection to First Ave. T.A. continues to urge the DOT to pursue this extremely worthwhile and creative improvement to the QBB.