Because of rehabilitation work on the Manhattan Bridge, cyclists and drivers can count on being inconvenienced for almost a year starting as soon as January. Streetsblog covered a recent Brooklyn Community Board 2 meeting, during which the DOT elaborated on changes to be made while workers replace the four main cables that hold up the bridge.
According to the DOT's proposal [pdf] one lane of the Lower Roadway would closed 24/7, unless the Brooklyn Bridge inbound is closed (nights and weekends only) and one Upper Roadway lane is closed off-peak. As for cyclists, when the time comes to replace the northern cable, the bike path will be covered with protective sheds under any active construction. But because the sheds are only three feet wide, they're too narrow to accommodate all that bike traffic over the bridge.
So the DOT is considering rerouting cyclists to what is normally the pedestrian side, on the south side of the bridge, and sending pedestrians under the sheds on the bike side. But on the Brooklyn side entrance, the walkway has no ramp (just a lot of steps), while on the Manhattan side, it would dump cyclists out on the very bike-unfriendly convergence of Bowery and Canal. The cable replacement is expected to take almost a year, so brace for impact, but don't count on the Brooklyn Bridge being any better for bikes; the already congested promenade will soon become even narrower due to rehab work there, too.
