Now, downtown-bound cyclists or bridge-bound cyclists coming from the south get their own protected lane.<\/p>\n
So how is the tweak working? We put some eyes on the street:<\/p>\n
First, what was wrong?<\/p>\n
Before DOT installed the new portion of the Centre Street lane, cyclists exiting the bridge who wanted to head downtown had to make a sharp, hairpin turn onto the pedestrian-dominated Brooklyn Bridge Promenade and cycle or walk through the crowds of pedestrians entering and exiting the Bridge\u2019s pedestrian path, along with the other cyclists trying to get onto the bridge\u2019s dedicated bike lane.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were being deposited right as cyclists are trying to get on the bridge crossing you, and then to get around them, you\u2019re biking into pedestrians,\u201d said Emily Jacobi, the Manhattan organizer for Transportation Alternatives. \u201cSo, there was no way to actually safely get off the bridge and onto Centre Street.\u201d<\/p>\n
If cyclists wanted to continue traveling down Centre Street, to the connecting painted, two-way bike lane on Park Row, they had to join masses of pedestrians trying to use the same sidewalk exit and entrance ramp to cross the street.<\/p>\n
The new design<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/EOTS_BB_2way-e1784298968929.jpeg\")
The two-way bike path that cyclists use to get onto and off of the Brooklyn Bridge bike path. Photo: Emily Smith<\/p>\n
The lane coming off the bridge itself is unchanged, as the picture above shows.<\/p>\n
But cyclists coming off the bridge now have two options: they can continue northbound through the intersection with Chambers onto the existing protected bike lane on Centre Street.<\/p>\n
Or if they want to go towards Lower Manhattan, they can make a new hairpin turn at the new bike-only intersection and onto the new protected south-bound lane repurposed from an superfluous bridge-bound car lane.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/EOTS_Hairpin_2-e1784300766867.jpeg\")
The hairpin-turn that cyclists have to make to proceed south once exiting the Brooklyn Bridge bike path. This shot is looking north. Photo: Emily Smith<\/p>\n
The protected lane extends from the hairpin turn to the intersection at Centre Street and the Brooklyn Bridge Promenade, where pedestrians and cyclists used to have to fight for space to cross the street safely. <\/p>\n
Now, cyclists have their own crosswalk \u2014 painted green and situated next to the pedestrian crosswalk \u2014 that connects the east-side bike lane to one that continues south down Park Row on the west-side (photo below):<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IOTS_BB_TruckBlocksLane.jpeg\")
A truck blocks the green-painted crossing, which should be reserved for bikes to cross from the east-side to the west-side bike lane. Photo: Emily Smith<\/p>\n
The space for cars on Centre Street has been reduced from two lanes and a parking lane to one lane and a cross-hatched no-standing zone, but congestion caused by cars \u2014 especially those moving and parking illegally \u2014 persists.<\/p>\n
When Streetsblog visited, a driver had parked his truck in the bike crosswalk that would\u2019ve allowed for a moderately smooth transition from the east-side to the west-side lane. It\u2019s not the first time the driver has parked dangerously, as the truck\u2019s plates showed almost 30 parking violations, according to city records<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lingering flaws<\/p>\n Cyclists that continue north past the bike-only intersection, almost immediately hit the intersection of Centre and Chamber streets, where Streetsblog ran into a blip in the original design. The bike lane just barely juts out into a pedestrian sidewalk crossing Centre Street, and pedestrians are regularly using it as a crossing island, standing directly in the path of the bike lane, endangering both walkers and cyclists.<\/p>\n And the turn from the bike lane onto the new southbound lane, and vice-versa, is very sharp. It\u2019s a turn that confuses first-time riders.<\/p>\n \u201cThis makes no sense,\u201d said Sergio Guerrero, who accidentally ended up at the intersection of Centre and Chambers streets, past the hairpin turn around, instead of on the Brooklyn Bridge bike path, where he was headed.<\/p>\n Jacobi said that the minimal signage should be expanded, in order to lend a hand to those first time riders. \u201cFor a design that\u2019s a little bit flawed and imperfect, not having any of that way finding makes it a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IOTS_BB_Signage-e1784061226848.jpeg\")
The signage directing cyclists heading north on the new Centre Street bike lane towards the bridge or north but not to the west and the busiest bike lane in North America, the Hudson River Greenway. Hmmm. Photo: Emily Smith<\/p>\n