Focus on the Pulaski Bridge.

It’s a shame Brooklyn and Queens don’t interact more. There are a number of reasons this might be – the fickleness and infrequence of the G-train is probably paramount – but one way to bring the two boroughs together is to improve their connection at the Pulaski Bridge. There is much opportunity for improvement both on the bridge and on its approaches.

On the south side, in Greenpoint, bike lanes should be added to McGuiness Blvd. This is going to cost at least one vehicular lane, but there is really no way around it. Right now McGuiness is extremely dangerous. Two narrow 30 mph lanes in each direction are continuously filled with trucks and other traffic cutting through the neighborhood on their way to Masbeth or Bushwick or the BQE. For lack of a better alternative, bicyclists use it anyway. This traffic contributes nothing to the neighborhood and constitutes a pedestrian nightmare as well, as it bisects a multi-generational Polish neighborhood. I am always tempted to suggest removing parking spaces in favor of a bike lane, but in the case, the neighborhood would benefit more if two lanes of moving vehicles were removed. The uncomfortably narrow sidewalks could be expanded slightly, and bike lanes could be installed.

The New York City DOT seems to have sensed that access to the Pulaski was troubled and recently painted bike lanes on Eagle and Freeman between West St. and McGuiness. This appears to be a means of encouraging bikes to access the bridge from Franklin Street. But this fails as a reasonable route for all those who live east of McGuiness, being two long blocks out of the way, and isn’t such a great route even for those for whom it isn’t much out of the way. Franklin is not a very good street to bike on, despite the “shared roadway” signs and markers painted on the roadway – cars are fast and pushy, and the lanes are narrow.

On the Pulaski bridge, for some inane reason, there are three lanes going each direction. On either side cars are confined to two lanes, but for some reason the designers felt they would let cars loose for a brief period on the bridge. This temporary freedom allows drivers to get accustomed to speeding just before entering residential Greenpoint, or striving-to-be-residential Long Island City. Meanwhile, the pedestrian/bicycle walkway is only wide enough for two to walk abreast. Bicycling is technically prohibited, a totally meaningless prohibition, and passing pairs of pedestrians requires attracting their attention and drawing a precise path around them. This is not how to treat pedestrians and bicyclists, especially not when such lavish treatment of cars is occurring just feet away. Clearly, even without changes to McGuiness, a lane in each direction should be removed from the Pulaski. Just putting up cones would be a huge improvement, as far as the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists on either side of the bridge is concerned.

On the Queens side there is perhaps even more to do. Ideally, routes would lead three directions: to a waterfront route along Vernon Blvd., to the Queensboro Bridge via Jackson, and to Sunnyside via 49th. Jackson is a street with much the same problem as McGuiness – fast trucks, little local traffic. But Jackson has more room to work with, and I think you could probably put bike lanes in without removing and vehicular lanes. I am not familiar enough with the other two streets to comment.

Have any suggestions for the Pulaski bridge and its approaches?