Updates on Goethals and Bayone Bridge Bike/Pedestrian Paths?
06-07-20, 10:32 PM
#51
Senior Member
Well, I'm looking for some new routes to try and I think I'll make it a point to ride both bridges in the near future. Maybe I'll drive to Staten Island, park and ride out to the Goethals out and back and then the Bayonne out and back.
I've only ridden on Staten Island after the 5 Boro back to the ferry from the festival so I'd like to get some of that in too, if it is worth it. Does anybody have any suggestions? I know so many routes around the rest of city, but just not there. Is it even worth it or should I just concentrate on the bridges?
I've only ridden on Staten Island after the 5 Boro back to the ferry from the festival so I'd like to get some of that in too, if it is worth it. Does anybody have any suggestions? I know so many routes around the rest of city, but just not there. Is it even worth it or should I just concentrate on the bridges?
06-09-20, 08:59 AM
#52
sic transit gloria mundi
Well, I'm looking for some new routes to try and I think I'll make it a point to ride both bridges in the near future. Maybe I'll drive to Staten Island, park and ride out to the Goethals out and back and then the Bayonne out and back.
I've only ridden on Staten Island after the 5 Boro back to the ferry from the festival so I'd like to get some of that in too, if it is worth it. Does anybody have any suggestions? I know so many routes around the rest of city, but just not there. Is it even worth it or should I just concentrate on the bridges?
I've only ridden on Staten Island after the 5 Boro back to the ferry from the festival so I'd like to get some of that in too, if it is worth it. Does anybody have any suggestions? I know so many routes around the rest of city, but just not there. Is it even worth it or should I just concentrate on the bridges?
Last edited by rfomenko; 06-09-20 at 09:23 AM.
10-29-20, 10:50 PM
#53
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Well, after many continued, ongoing delays, things are starting to heat up with this bike/ped path. Well, sort of.
Latest City Plan For Goethals Bridge Bike Lane
Skipping to the important part of that article, near the bottom:
The article cites the difficulty they are having with routing cycling traffic to and from the bridge, on both sides, because of the fact that so many trucks use the bridge. They are apparently building a completely closed off cycling/pedestrian lane, and cyclists, according to the article, will have to ride a very counter-intuitive, circuitous path to get onto and off the bridge, I think particularly on the Staten Island side.
I don't personally mind jumping (or riding) through a few hoops if the path is safer. Even if it is poorly designed as some activists are now claiming. An interesting side note is that the good news of the path's now pending completion, though admittedly it was supposed to already be open by now, is that they are starting the actual construction of the actual structure of the path within a few weeks, or may have already started. I have a good feeling about this, because in my experience in The Big Apple, while all the talk and planning may be fraught with delay after delay, as the Goethals path has been, once actual construction starts, things happen pretty quickly. This is why I tend to believe that this path will finally be opened in 2020, at least if construction actually starts now.
As another aside, the comment section of this article has an understandably feverish renewal of complaints that the Verrazano Bridge has no bike lane. If I skimmed it right, Staten Island residents are complaining that they are cyclingly isolated from the other boroughs of NY City, and Brooklyn/Queens residents are complaining that there is no way to pedal all the way from the boroughs to Jersey without detouring to Manhattan and/or sitting on a ferry. Of course, I think that someone should probably remind them that many of the S53 and S93 buses that travel from Bay Ridge Brooklyn to Staten Island have bike racks when they say there is only the ferry or GWB, but I nonetheless agree with their point. The MTA, Port Authority, DOT, and whoever else needs to be involved in the plan seriously has to consider this as an option for the Verrazano. But I can definitely see a lot of logistical reasons for why this may never happen.
Here is another article about the bike lane:
Link
And for what its worth, here's a piece about the Verrazano:
Verazzano Bike Lane Wishful Thinking
Latest City Plan For Goethals Bridge Bike Lane
Skipping to the important part of that article, near the bottom:
The article cites the difficulty they are having with routing cycling traffic to and from the bridge, on both sides, because of the fact that so many trucks use the bridge. They are apparently building a completely closed off cycling/pedestrian lane, and cyclists, according to the article, will have to ride a very counter-intuitive, circuitous path to get onto and off the bridge, I think particularly on the Staten Island side.
I don't personally mind jumping (or riding) through a few hoops if the path is safer. Even if it is poorly designed as some activists are now claiming. An interesting side note is that the good news of the path's now pending completion, though admittedly it was supposed to already be open by now, is that they are starting the actual construction of the actual structure of the path within a few weeks, or may have already started. I have a good feeling about this, because in my experience in The Big Apple, while all the talk and planning may be fraught with delay after delay, as the Goethals path has been, once actual construction starts, things happen pretty quickly. This is why I tend to believe that this path will finally be opened in 2020, at least if construction actually starts now.
As another aside, the comment section of this article has an understandably feverish renewal of complaints that the Verrazano Bridge has no bike lane. If I skimmed it right, Staten Island residents are complaining that they are cyclingly isolated from the other boroughs of NY City, and Brooklyn/Queens residents are complaining that there is no way to pedal all the way from the boroughs to Jersey without detouring to Manhattan and/or sitting on a ferry. Of course, I think that someone should probably remind them that many of the S53 and S93 buses that travel from Bay Ridge Brooklyn to Staten Island have bike racks when they say there is only the ferry or GWB, but I nonetheless agree with their point. The MTA, Port Authority, DOT, and whoever else needs to be involved in the plan seriously has to consider this as an option for the Verrazano. But I can definitely see a lot of logistical reasons for why this may never happen.
Here is another article about the bike lane:
Link
And for what its worth, here's a piece about the Verrazano:
Verazzano Bike Lane Wishful Thinking
I thought the Goethals bridge would dump me into an industrial center of Elizabeth New Jersey but that was not the case. The Jersey side of the bridge was safe with many stores and shops. I rode my bike Rahway River Park and spent my entire time exploring. I'm so lucky since I don't have to pay $11.75 to go over the Goethals bridge or $16.00 for the Bayonne bridge!
Those with a folding bike like my Brompton can board the S93 into Brooklyn at any time. It's amazing how I'm one of the few living in New Jersey that can enter in Manhattan for free going over the Bayonne Bridge and use the Staten Island Ferry. Only those living near the George Washington bridge have such an advantage.
