In mid-September, bicycle advocates and members of the Bill de Blasio administration gathered on the Brooklyn Bridge to celebrate the first reconfiguration of the landmark in more than 70 years. In an event de Blasio called “a symbol of New York City fully embracing a sustainable future and striking a blow against car culture,” the city unveiled a protected bike lane replacing a lane of traffic long given over to cars.

Now bicyclists will be able to ride in a dedicated lane and won’t have to battle with pedestrians and picture-taking tourists to cross the East River between Brooklyn and lower Manhattan, a crucial step to the city’s promise of a fully connected, five-borough bike network.

“Without bike-friendly infrastructure on bridges, commuting across boroughs just isn’t possible,” said Jacob DeCastro, communications associate for New York-based Transportation Alternatives. “We’re working on a citywide network that mimics the highway system for the U.S. Connectivity is key.”

The redesigned Brooklyn Bridge is part of an estimated 30 miles of bike lane New York City planned to add in 2021, the most by the city in a single year (the previous record was 2020's 28.6 miles.) While car buying boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, bicycling has as well. That's prompted cities to take a harder look at turning piecemeal bike infrastructure into robust networks, with support from the Biden administration.

Caron Whitaker, deputy executive director of the League of American Bicyclists, said the administration's push for climate-friendly transportation and public interest in biking have helped made bike infrastructure an easier sell — after decades of it being relegated to a novelty with just a small percentage of transportation funding.

Read the full article about increased infrastructure spending by Jason Plautz at Smart Cities Dive.