Many Battery Park City commuters and residents will have a longer walk to work starting Thursday morning, when the Port Authority moves the entrance to the Liberty St. bridge two blocks south.
Rather than entering the eastern side of the bridge at Liberty and Greenwich Sts., pedestrians will have to walk down to Albany and West Sts., in front of 90 West St., to climb the stairs up to the bridge. The Port Authority also installed a new elevator to the bridge along West St., near Albany St.
The Port Authority is making the change to continue excavating the vehicle security center for the World Trade Center site. The Port had been talking about the new bridge extension for months but only announced the date of the change on April 21, a day before they planned to implement it.
The city Dept. of Transportation made sidewalk improvements along Albany St., which will see more pedestrians as a result of the shift, said Robin Forst of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center. For the first week or two, traffic flaggers and pedestrian managers will direct those who are confused by the change, she said at a Community Board 1 meeting last week.
“We’ll see how it goes,” added Frank Hrubes, director of construction coordination for the D.O.T.’s Lower Manhattan office. “Once people get into the rhythm, we’ll wean it away.”
