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April 28, 2008

DOT Plans Brooklyn Bridge Overhaul

brooklynbridge-04-2008.jpg
Downtown Express reports that the Department of Transportation will spearhead a $300 million renovation of the Brooklyn Bridge. The work, which is scheduled to occur mostly on nights and weekends between 2009 and 2014, will involve widening ramps on both the Manhattan and Brooklyn sides of the landmark; restoring its arches, which have been badly weathered; and adding steel safety barriers to the bridge's roadways. The DOT also plans to paint the structure beige, its original color.
Brooklyn Bridge to Get a Little Coffee Color [Downtown Express]
Brooklyn Bridge to Get Structural, Cosmetic Makeover [Gothamist]
Photo by FocusBrooklyn.




Posted by Gabby at 4:00 PM | Comments (27)
Categories: Landmark, Transportation

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Comments

they are going to PAINT THE BRICK???

uhhh. sounds terrible to me.

Posted by: guest at April 28, 2008 4:06 PM

No, the steel, not the brick.

Posted by: guest at April 28, 2008 4:14 PM

Not smart to shut the bridge during 2012. The city will need all escape routes possible for the Apocalypse.

Posted by: guest at April 28, 2008 4:24 PM

oh good!

Posted by: guest at April 28, 2008 4:25 PM

Build the 2nd Avenue will you!!!!!!!!

Posted by: guest at April 28, 2008 4:27 PM

I think they should consider devoting this money to two different causes:

First, there is not enough signage announcing the Ari Halberstam memorial ramp on the Manhattan side. Maybe we can put some larger signs up extending from Brooklyn all the way across the river into Manhattan and just rename the bridge "the Ari Bridge" or "Bridge Ari".

Second, we need to hire more police officers to sit in their cars and take long naps. I don't understand why the police no longer park their cars on the actual roadway on teh weekends and create those traffic jams. I think any potential terrorist would be so terrified by the site of an NYC police officer sitting near the bridge that they would just immediatey confess and turn themselves in.

Posted by: Brooklynnative at April 28, 2008 4:30 PM

Jeez, this is like the BQE. There's never been a time in the last twenty years when the bridge wasn't being repaired.

Posted by: denton at April 28, 2008 4:48 PM

Brooklynnative, you're so jaded! Those police cars sitting at the entrance to the bridge (with the cops sleeping inside) brought millions of dollars to the city from excited tourists from Sydney, Milan, Des Moines, etc. seeking a photo op with an NYPD vehicle behind them. And when a second cop car pulled up to the idle one so the officers could discuss last night's Yankee game, the traffic speed was reduced enough to allow the drivers a chance to enjoy the majestic views.

Posted by: Biff Champion at April 28, 2008 4:48 PM

I think they are expanding the ramp on Manhattan side used for NYPD headquarters free parking lot to accomodate another 50 cars.

Posted by: guest at April 28, 2008 5:13 PM

another complete boondoggle. I'm not that old and I have lived through two separate multi-year approach ramp widenings projects. Now there will be a third. unbelievable. Why don't the journalists investigate this kind of idiotic watefulness?

Posted by: sam at April 28, 2008 7:41 PM

Not that I think DOT knows what they're doing, but to be fair to them, Sam, every time they do a widening I'm sure a "Brooklyn Bridge Ramp Defense Coalition" pops up complaining that they're stealing valuable parkland (like the no-man's land where the ottnerness sculpture is) or similar nonsense, and forces them to scale back what would have otherwise been a reasonable long-term plan.

Instead of just widening the Cadman Plaza exit ramp, I would love them to just connect it directly to the BQE via a ramp or tunnel so the highway-bound traffic doesn't have to sit through 2 lights on Old Fulton. That's the real cause of the Brooklyn-bound backups on the bridge.

Posted by: guest at April 28, 2008 9:13 PM

9:13
you don't understand. they don't do anything useful. they just close the ramp for two years and build a new one just like it, then they close that for two years and build another one just like it. the new ramps are exactly the same as the old ramps.


Posted by: sam at April 28, 2008 10:52 PM

I walk over the bridge on my way to work most mornings. For a while, there was often a fresh human dump about half way across. And i would always think, man, if they can't prevent someone from taking a dump on the bridge every night -- if they don't notice THAT happening -- how are they going to prevent someone from leaving another kind of bomb? Not a safe feeling.

Posted by: guest at April 28, 2008 11:11 PM

They should put in speed bumps for all the asshole bikers. Eventually someone will gt hurt, and THEN there will be a big outcry. But someone needs to get hurt first. Someone that counts.

Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 6:03 AM

These free East River bridges have been sucking the taxpayers dry for decades. It's time to slap a toll on them.

Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 9:13 AM

bikes are vehicles and should be in the vehicle lanes.

Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 9:27 AM

Is there any other country that is so hostile to cyclists and accepting of SUVs? Such ignorance in so many ways...

Posted by: Biff Champion at April 29, 2008 9:43 AM

Biff...I'm at work so i can't monitor the comments all day long but I need for you to stick more specifically to the topic

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at April 29, 2008 10:09 AM

Sorry Dave. Without you and Jerr around, I tend to get a tad off topic (or so I am told).

Posted by: Biff Champion at April 29, 2008 10:14 AM

Hey, Biff, where are Muffy and Chauncey?

Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 10:38 AM

I think the walkway on the Brooklyn Bridge would be much more pleasant, especially at busy times of day, if people were asked to walk their bicycles across.
Not only would it allow folks to spread out on the whole width of the boardwalk but it would ease one's fear of being struck by a cyclist high on endorphins or whatever it is that makes some so inconsiderate.
It's a nice walk. The peddling can resume once you get to terra firma. There are about forty pedestrians to every cyclist and yet the width of the boardwalk is split in half. It's unfair and dangerous.

Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 12:38 PM

I think that us bikers would be more considerate if you pedestrians could read signs and stay on your side of the 1 foot thick white line. Most countries have bike lanes like this but the people are not nearly as stupid, and it works just fine.

Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 12:57 PM

How about a dedicated bike lane. Doesn't this fall in line with NYC's stated goals? I thought we were trying to promote alternative transportation? Why are we widening motor vehicle lanes?

Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 1:22 PM

bikers = angry and hostile

Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 1:40 PM

bikers=angry & hostile b/c bikers + angry & hostile car drivers + 2000lbs steel = @#%^&*

Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 2:45 PM

bikers = angry & hostile = righteous and selfish drivers talking on cell phones with no clue how to drive

Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 4:01 PM

humans=angry and hostile & dumb
gotta love it !
The city should create some sorta suspended or tiered bike lane.
Better yet, close the bridge to traffic completely and open it up as a park !

Posted by: guest at April 29, 2008 10:11 PM

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