Metro

Collision course: Bid to widen B’klyn Bridge walk-bike lane

HEY, LADY, LOOK OUT! Sights like this on the Brooklyn Bridge — of a cyclist nearly hitting an oblivious tourist in the bike lane — are common. (
)

Speeding cyclists may soon get even more room to rip across the Brooklyn Bridge walkway.

The span has become so dangerously congested with whizzing cyclists and gawking tourists that it needs to be dramatically widened to accommodate the crowds — or people will continue to get hurt, City Council members said.

Three politicians — inundated with complaints from people who have been nearly flattened by cyclists — yesterday unveiled a proposal to double the width of the skinny path that’s supposed to be shared equally between pedestrians and bike riders.

Their plan calls for allocating three-quarters of the widened path to walkers, and the rest to cyclists.

“If you stand on it for 10 minutes, you will see that it’s just too narrow,” said Councilman Brad Lander (D-Brooklyn).

An average of 4,000 pedestrians and 3,100 cyclists use the path daily, city estimates show.

The number of pedestrians on the path can balloon to as much as 15,000 on busy days, officials said.

Also endorsing the plan was Councilwoman Margaret Chin — who represents the area around the Manhattan side of the bridge — and Stephen Levin, whose district encompasses the Brooklyn side.

“The Brooklyn Bridge right now is a bit of a hazard,“ Levin said.

It’s particularly dangerous for tourists, who often don’t know the span’s path is to be shared equally with cyclists, he added.

The elected officials are calling on design experts to submit proposals.

“Our assumption is it is feasible,” said Lander. “We want someone to tell us how.”

It shouldn’t be that difficult, said bridge expert Barry LePatner, but it will likely be extremely costly.

“The amount of engineering, and added concrete and other materials to widen the bike path, is inconsequential so far as the structural integrity of the overall bridge,” said LePatner, a construction-industry lawyer. “The major question really is getting the money.”

He estimated that the project would cost several million dollars, but regular users say it’s worth it.

“It’s amazing how many near- misses I’ve had,” said Charlie Gagliano, 49, a Gravesend building engineer who bikes across.

“Just now, two kids were in the bike lane as I was coming over and the mother was on the pedestrian side letting them go.”

The Department of Transportation said it would look at any proposal submitted in “the interest in enhancing safety.”

City pols are looking to widen the pedestrian lane on the Brooklyn Bridge to accom–modate crowds of up to 15,000 on busy days.

The bike lane would grow, too, but not by as much as the pedestrian path, due to the overflow of walkers.