Under this plan, aside from losing already limited parking (which was only of a concern when we had guests as we didn't have a car until near the end of our living there), people will be forced to park along a busy road, not to mention that heavy traffic will now be 12 to 24 feet closer to the apartment buildings. I'd hate to live in 175, 215 & 235 Adams if this goes through.

I'm not saying what is there now (or at least 3 months ago which is the last time I was in our old neighborhood) is wonderful, far from it, but this seems to be another example of the city doing something nice for everybody but those who would have to live with the consequences.

Regarding the choice of which bridge to use, the Brooklyn Bridge path is more crowded and a less preferable surface, yes, but it also is accessible from the top of the hill rather than only down on Sands Street, in addition to the points discussed above about a quicker trip to the West Side (and yes, as Brooklyn @ #16 pointed out, it makes much more sense to use Reade than Chambers).

I live in the area and I often run the Brooklyn to Manhattan Bridge loop, and I can confirm that the south side of the Manhattan Bridge sees virtually no foot traffic. I think part of that is how hidden away it is. If you walk up Canal to get to there, looking across that huge intersection, you would hardly know there was a pedestrian walkway there. Also, I can sympathize with anyone who has safety concerns. I have never personally felt uncomfortable there, but it is pretty well isolated from the very beginning.

I'm not sure that the Manhattan Bridge will ever see much more casual foot traffic than it already gets, though. It is a lot less pleasant to be on than the Brooklyn Bridge. Although the train is nice because it doesn't emit exhaust, it is incredibly noisy. I imagine that better maintenance could reduce the sound, but heavy rail like that is always going to be loud. The chain link fence makes the pathway feel a little claustrophobic and institutional. It seems to take them a while to remove graffiti there, too. The view is nice if you can ignore the fence but it's otherwise a kind of depressing space.

Also, both approaches are pretty bad. The Manhattan side, in addition to being easy to miss, forces you to cross a big intersection. If there were heavy foot traffic on the south side the way there is on the Brooklyn Bridge it would be even more crowded on the corner of Canal and Bowery, and Canal itself would practically have to become a pedestrian mall. Even without any pedestrian through-traffic, that street is packed most of the day.

The Brooklyn side might be worse. A tourist could get lost pretty easily on that side, and it's ugly as anything to boot. Lastly, there's really not great subway access on either side. I wouldn't expect tourists--who seem to make up the great bulk of foot traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge--to walk more than a block or two to find a station. I might be underestimating the average tourist, I guess, but that's my estimate. One of the reasons there is such heavy foot traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge, even though none of it seems to make it across to the Brooklyn side, is that the City Hall stop is right at the Manhattan entrance.

As far as solutions to the pedestrian problem on the Brooklyn Bridge go, I think the Manhattan Bridge is the wrong place to look, unless it's to improve bike infrastructure there.

One easy step that might help on the Brooklkyn Bridge would be to repaint the lines more frequently. Some tourists walk in the bike lane because they're rude, but a lot of them seem genuinely surprised when they realize that there is a bike lane there. I can't blame them, sometimes. Those lines get badly faded before they're repainted.

Anyway, I hope this project gets done in a timely fashion. I look forward to seeing that awful concrete stop removed.

Also, I think the approach is long overdue for improvements. When people walk across the bridge, they should be welcomed with infrastructure that invites them to visit Brooklyn, not a forbidding concrete chute that makes them go right back to Manhattan.

Finally, I love Larry's idea for a loop walk. Maybe the Chinatown and DUMBO business owners can help out. Geoff Lee, are you there?

Also,why can't protected bike lanes run all the way from Tillary to Atlantic so that there's a safer connection to the Bergen and Dean Street bike lanes? I can't grasp why anyone thinks that after one block of protected riding, cyclists should be exposed to dangerous traffic. Adams street isn't magically safer one block from the bridge.

I also have to agree with the other streetsbloggers who questioned how increased cycling volume on The Brooklyn Bridge will be handled. This has been a sore spot for pedestrians and cyclists for a while now and adding more recreational cyclists at peak times is not going to fix it. If DOT wants people to use The Brooklyn Bridge for commuting and sightseeing they need to implement a better solution for bikes on the bridge. I ride the bridge all the time and I don't blame pedestrians for getting in my way,(I wouldn't let a little white paint stop me from getting that perfect shot on my vacation) but it's still a disaster.

And... like most regular cyclists I avoid the Brooklyn Bridge, but it's great that they're working on this particular spot. The giant crash barricade and uneven pavement make conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists almost inevitable; no one knows where to go, there's no room to maneuver, cars are often stopped in the crosswalk, and everyone is tense from being within inches of 50 mph hour traffic. Weekend cyclists brush by walkers, and suddenly it's modal armageddon at the bottom of the auto-centric transportation hierarchy.

Implement this plan, please!

The Manhattan Bridge has direct access to the Chrystie St. bike pass, fastest way to Houston St.

Great idea, promoting a loop to tourists that ends you up in Chinatown!

In NYC if you are alone in an isolated location, you are in danger. The presence of cyclists attracts the peds to the north side of the bridge. The abscence of other peds makes them fear the South Side.

The Manhattan Bridge is not popular with tourists. The way to change that is to post a large map at the Manhattan entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge encouraging them to make a loop, ending with lunch or dinner in Chinatown, and also promote that loop in tourist literature.

On the Brooklyn side a large, multi-lingual sign would have to direct them to the stairs, and several more would have to direct them on the streets to the Manhattan Bridge entrance -- or to Brooklyn Bridge park, if they wanted to make a stop.

Just the other day a tourist stopped me on the Brooklyn Bridge in and asked how to get to the Manhattan Bridge on the Brooklyn side. I explained as best I could, but the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge is really the only entrance that is easy to find.

If the tourists were only heading to Brooklyn, rather than going over and back, there would be less crowding on its pedestrian side. And if there were more tourists on the sought side of the Manhattan, locals would be less fearful of using it.

It's currently accessible only from the southwest side of the bridge, southeast corner of Bowery and Canal; most of the Chinatown foot traffic seems to cross on the north side of Canal, down the hill toward the LES, walkin' in the separated bike lanes toward Forsyth.

I'm comfortable waiting until the next round of Manhattan Bridge approach improvements, and hoping that add'l cyclist load helps to keep the way clear until then.

Except that court personnel would park on it, of course.

As a pedestrian, I would never use the Tillary Street approach. The entire length to the stairs there is little to see, and you are stuck next to the noise and fumes of traffic. I always tell tourists to take the A to High Street, and the Red Cross Building stair to the stairway entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Has anyone noticed that the approach to the Manhattan Bridge from the Navy Yard is starting to look like a bike path separated from traffic by concrete medians? I know that this was promised years ago, but I had given up on it. Is it really going to happen?

Let's go whole hog and build an elevated path for peds and bikes above Tillary St along Adams St all the way to Willoughby St, where it can turn east and descend onto the pedestrianized block between Adams and Pearl Sts.