Cyclist on the new Brooklyn Bridge cycleway in New York. Photo / supplied
Cyclist on the new Brooklyn Bridge cycleway in New York. Photo / supplied
It's not pretty. Brooklyn Bridge in New York now has a dedicated cycleway: it's too narrow, it's an ugly feature on one of the most famous bridges in the world, and yet it's bloody wonderful.
Until September this year, bicycles shared a walkway that runs through the middle of thebridge, above the vehicle lanes. But so many cyclists have been using that walkway, a vehicle lane has now been transformed into a two-way cycle path.
That's right. They reduced the capacity of the bridge for cars, in favour of bicycles. In New York, a city whose streets are always jammed with cars.
Brooklyn Bridge, New York. Photo / supplied
Actually, New York now has more than 2000km of bike lanes, up from 800km in 2006. And Brooklyn Bridge is not alone: of the 21 bridges that connect Manhattan to the rest of America, 16 allow cycling, many on dedicated lanes.
Not everyone's a fan. When a new cycleway connecting to the Brooklyn Bridge opened in downtown Manhattan, police officers parked their own cars in it. That's been stopped now.
Cars belonging to New York Police Department officers, parked in a new cycleway in downtown Manhattan. Photo / supplied
On the bridge, cyclists are protected by a 60cm-wide concrete barrier topped with fencing and the cycleway is only 2.4m wide. These things are not ideal. For comparison, the Nelson St bike path in Auckland is 3m wide.
But it doesn't matter. They took a vehicle lane and did the best they could with it. If they'd waited for a "proper" solution, they'd have waited forever.
New York mayor Bill de Blasio calls the bridge cycleway a "key Vision Zero achievement" - that's the road-safety policy supposedly also guiding New Zealand transport planning. Except, is it really?
The Minister of Transport, Michael Wood, has been telling us all year he's interested in a cycling trial on the Auckland Harbour Bridge. We've hit summer now, the perfect time for a trial, but there's nothing.
A 2.4m cycleway is perfectly possible on that bridge. If New York can do it, what on earth is the problem in Auckland?
It's not pretty, but it does the job: cyclists on the new Brooklyn Bridge cycleway in New York. Photo / supplied
Design for Living is a series on good ideas that make cities better, running weekly in Canvas.
