While The City Installs New Bike Paths, Old Ones Fall Into Disrepair

When it comes to bike paths, it seems the city is a believer in “Out with the old and in with the new.” Or, hell, just forget about the old altogether.

While the Department of Transportation continues to implement hundreds of miles of new bike paths across the five borough, many Southern Brooklyn residents are wondering why the city fails to maintain existing lanes. In particular, they’re urging the city to rebuild a section of bike path along the Shore Road Promenade, from Bay Parkway to the Verrazano Bridge, and officials are saying rebuilding it is unlikely in the near future, reports Brooklyn Daily.

To make renovations to the battered bike path, it will cost about $20 million – that’s $20 million the city doesn’t have right now. Joggers and cyclists are constantly playing a game of chicken whenever they are on the damaged bike path, and the worn, jagged concrete is covered in sand, making it a hazard.

“The condition is getting worse and worse,” Bensonhurst resident Marina Kay told Brooklyn Daily. “It needs a complete renovation. Runners could break their legs.”

The problem is so bad that one bicyclist founded a blog dedicated to it: Shore Parkway Views. Through photos, descriptions and even a map tracking conditions for fellow cyclists, the blog documents damage to the path from Bay Parkway to Bay Ridge.

Many people feel that this section of the bike path is neglected by the city and it deserves better treatment just like the segment between 69th Street and the bridge, which was remodeled with a budget of $20 million. But that money came from federal disaster relief funds.

And it’s not just this section of the promenade that’s a problem. Our sister site Sheepshead Bites has been harping for more than two years about damages at the Plumb Beach bike path, a section of which was swept away by storm surges two years ago. The cyclists and joggers of Plumb Beach demanded the city fixed the bike path so safety could be ensured, but no action has been taken.

Do you know of any other bike paths that need renovations, but the city ignores? Let us know in the comments!