Last Thursday morning the DOT announced that, due to ongoing bridge construction, it is extending intermittent nighttime closures on Queensboro Bridge's biking and walking path through September 3rd, 2006. According to the DOT's announcement, "the lane closure will be intermittent and will not take place every night. When the lane closure is enforced, it will be closed from 10 pm to 5 am." During closures, the DOT will provide shuttle bus service leaving from the bridge path entrances every fifteen minutes, and flagmen will be on duty to direct path users.In late May, when the DOT first announced the intermittent bridge path closures, the agency stated that they would last from May 30th to July 2nd. T.A. urged the DOT to ensure that the path closures end promptly on July 2nd.

As of press time, the DOT has not responded to a T.A. request for more information regarding the extended construction closure--why did the DOT extend the planned-one month closure for two more months or why the agency is not diverting bicyclist and pedestrian traffic to the bridge's South Outer Roadway, which has carried bikers and walkers off and on for the past decade?

Sending the 2,500 people who bike and walk across the Queensboro Bridge each day across the South Outer Roadway would allow the DOT to forgo the expensive, confusing and discouraging shuttle bus service and make crossing the bridge easier for cyclists and pedestrians. In 1996, when the DOT closed the bridge to bikers and walkers traffic from 3-8 pm and provided shuttle bus service, bike and foot traffic dropped 50%.

More information about the Queensboro Bridge Rehabilitation Program is available on the DOT website.

Take Action: Urge the DOT to open the Queensboro Bridge’s South Outer Roadway to bicycle and pedestrian traffic through September 3, 2006, or as long as construction continues on the north path:

NYCDOT Division of BridgesCommunity Affairs Office2 Rector Street, 8th FloorNew York, NY 10006212-788-2110