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Changes are planned this summer for the Liberty Street Bridge
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Improving the pedestrian experience on West Street is a top priority for the new “Promenade South,” and to that end, the state Department of Transportation (SDOT) is working on several features that prioritize foot traffic, while still accommodating the highway’s heavy vehicular traffic.
At the April 7th meeting of Community Board 1’s Battery Park City committee, project managers from SDOT delivered several updates for Promenade South, which spans West Street south of Chambers (the lower portion from S. Thames Street to Battery Place was completed in summer 2006).
The most significant change to the pedestrian crossings is headed to the Liberty Street Bridge. Starting this summer, SDOT will reconfigure the bridge so the Port Authority can excavate the new “south bathtub” between Liberty and Cedar, and West and Greenwich Streets. SDOT will remove the current eastern extension that lands at Washington Street, and create a new extension, forming a right angle that sends pedestrians to a new stairway and elevator to the south, at Cedar and West Streets.
That bridge modification will start in about six months, after the Port Authority has completed slurry wall installation in the south bathtub. The temporarily reconfigured Liberty Street Bridge will open in spring 2010. It will be modified again in several years, once the Port has built the proposed park that will occupy the area between Liberty and Cedar Streets.
At Rector Street, SDOT reported that the pedestrian bridge is expected to reopen by Monday, April 13th, pending the Department of Building’s approval of the sidewalk shed extension at 40 Rector Street. The bridge was closed in March due to unsafe façade conditions at 40 Rector Street. As façade work proceeds through mid-June, SDOT will continue work at grade, then close the bridge for eight to 10 weeks for stair replacement.
At Vesey Street, SDOT and CB1 noted Port Authority plans to extend that pedestrian bridge one block east to Greenwich Street. However, no Port representative was on hand to present details on that proposal, which is still being planned, including maintaining ADA compliance to the bridge.
For at-grade improvements, SDOT is making several changes. The agency will expand the shared walkway/bikeway along West Street, create pedestrian “refuge” areas in the median, expand the Albany Street crosswalks, and enhance visibility for both drivers and pedestrians.
Since 2008, SDOT also has committed $5 million for traffic-enforcement agents to help manage vehicular traffic, and an additional $4 million for dedicated pedestrian-traffic flaggers. They are stationed in various locations on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The agency expects to reach several project milestones in the next six months, including reopening the rebuilt bikeway/walkway north of Murray Street; completing utility work in several locations, including at the World Trade Center; restoring Warren Street to two-way in Battery Park City; and rebuilding W. Thames Park and the adjacent dog run.
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