A rendering of the new West Thames Street Pedestrian Bridge expected to be completed in early 2018 — possibly as long as nine months after the existing overpass at Rector St. is due to close, leaving Battery Park City residents in the area without an elevated crossing.
BY DENNIS LYNCH
Battery Park City residents are outraged that the city may try to save money on a new pedestrian bridge by leaving them without an elevated crossing over the busy West Side Highway for as long as nine months.
If the city’s Economic Development Corporation sticks to its initial schedule and there are no delays, workers will start dismantling the Rector Street crossing sometime between July and September 2017 — but the new West Thames Street Pedestrian Bridge two blocks south won’t be finished until sometime between January and March 2018.
An EDC spokesman cautioned that the schedule was not yet set in stone, but said that the agency would save money by doing the two jobs simultaneously rather than waiting until the new overpass is finished before dismantling the existing one, leading local leaders to question the city’s priorities.
“The question is: what is the dollar value of pedestrian safety crossing the West Side Highway?” asked Tammy Meltzer, a member of Community Board 1’s Battery Park City Committee. “This isn’t crossing a two lane road, this is crossing a highway with a tunnel exit and entrance there in the winter, its very dangerous.”
The EDC rep explained that taking down the old bridge while finishing the new one would save money by allowing project managers to oversee both projects at once, instead extending the job for the time it would take for workers to dismantle the Rector Place crossing afterwards.
The agency did not respond to press inquires about much money it expected to save by requiring BPC residents to cross six lanes of traffic in the middle of winter.
A representative of the Battery Park City Authority, which is kicking in some of the money for the project and will maintain the new bridge upon completion, said pedestrian safety is a priority, and if the neighborhood goes without an elevated bridge for any length of time, the authority would put safety measures in place at the street level, perhaps including crossing guards.
Scrimping on construction costs at the expense of pedestrian safety at this point appears to be a departure from earlier practice with the long-delayed West Thames Street Bridge project, whose budget has ballooned from $18 million decade ago to $45.1 million as of June, according to the Broadsheet, which recently calculated that the 230-foot span is now slated to cost more than $196,000 per foot.
The CB1 BPC committee went on record opposing current timetable and EDC representatives said they would consider changing it in light of the opposition.
The permanent West Thames Street Pedestrian Bridge will stretch across the highway from West Thames St. to a pedestrian plaza at the base of the new 50 West St. tower. It will feature stairs and an elevator — but no ramp, which also irked some CB1 members. The EDC expects construction to start later this year.
