Yesterday, I finally got out to Rockaway for the first time
this season, and discovered that the walkway on the Cross Bay Bridge
between Rockaway and Broad Channel Island is closed due to
construction. There's a shuttle van there with a rack for 4 bikes,
which I took, but it seems woefully inadequate to deal with the level
of bike traffic typical in the summer. The van departs from either
side every half hour, enough for eight cyclists per hour in each
direction. As I recall from past summers, you can't stand at the foot
of the bridge for a minute or so without seeing at least one biker
pass, so the normal traffic is probably on the order of over 50 each
way per hour. As demand for the van mounts, it seems it'll be better
to just go around JFK, a detour of around 7 miles.
Here's the one notice about this I've been able to find, oddly enough,
on the MTA site rather than the DOT:
http://www.mta.info/bandt/traffic/advisory.htm
Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge
Pedestrian Walkway Closes Starting Dec. 3
Free Shuttle Bus Service Provided
As part of ongoing Cross Bay Bridge rehabilitation work currently
underway, please be advised that the pedestrian walkway will be
closed beginning December 3, 2007 and continuing through October 3,
2008.
During this ten-month period, a free shuttle bus service has been
arranged for pedestrians and bicyclists seven days a week and 14 hours
a day from 7 AM to 9 PM. The bus will operate on 15-minute intervals.
There will be two marked bus stops as follows: the south bus stop will
be located at South Beach 92nd Street adjacent to the entrance to the
closed pedestrian ramp. The north bus stop will be located on the
south curb of Van Brunt Street adjacent to the entrance of the closed
pedestrian ramp. The vehicle will have capacity for 11 passengers and
be equipped with a bicycle rack with mounting capacity for four
bicycles.
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