T.A. Unveils Plans to Improve GWB Access in Manhattan

The DOT could create a two-way, physically separated bike lane on Cabrini Boulevard in Manhattan without removing any parking.

On the average weekend day, 1,500 people bike and walk over the George Washington Bridge. Many use it to connect two of the most popular bike rides in the New York City area: Henry Hudson Drive, aka “River Road,” on the New Jersey side of the bridge and the Hudson River Greenway on the Manhattan side of the bridge.

Since 2001, T.A. has worked to win a half-mile off-street greenway between the George Washington Bridge and “River Road” in Palisades Interstate Park in New Jersey. The Palisades Interstate Park Commission is currently looking for funding to build the path.

Now, T.A. is working to improve safety and connections on the Manhattan side. The City DOT has an easy opportunity to improve access to the bridge path and the Hudson River Greenway without sacrificing parking or motor vehicle travel lanes.

To improve safety going to and from the bridge, T.A. recommends that the City DOT:

• Add a westbound, blue pigmented bike lane to the north curb of West 177th Street between Fort Washington and Haven Avenues.
• Convert the west side of Cabrini Boulevard to a two-way, blue pigmented bicycle lane between West 177th and West 178th Streets.
• Add an eastbound, blue pigmented bike lane to the south curb of West 178th Street between Cabrini Boulevard and Fort Washington Avenue.
• Add more directional signs on Riverside Drive and 181st Street to lead bicyclists between the bridge and the Hudson River Greenway and lower the existing signs on 178th Street (they are currently mounted 15-20 feet in the air).

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