Photo:rickweller/Flickr

Per an email from project coordinator Ellen Macnow of the Parks Department, via Inwood and Washington Heights Livable Streets: 

A contract has been signed with the firm Lichtenstein Consulting Engineers, and they will start work soon. Lichtenstein is charged with producing designs for the bridge, including structural improvements, new ramp access and new protective fencing. Their work will result in a contract to be bid out for construction, which is funded by Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC program.

Public comment meetings will be scheduled in the spring.

Macnow says the High Bridge Coalition "will be working hard this year to engage the local and advocacy communities in the design." (Parks has already conducted at least one round of public input, in August of '07.) There was also concern upon the project's announcement nearly three years ago that access would be limited to daytime weekend hours, a fear Macnow tried to mitigate. "We want everybody who wants to use the bridge to use the bridge," she said.

Built as part of the Croton Aqueduct in 1848, the High Bridge spans the Harlem River to connect Washington Heights with the High Bridge neighborhood. It stopped carrying water in 1958, and was closed to the public completely in 1970.

At October's Walk21 Conference, I got the chance to tour the High Bridge, a viaduct connecting Manhattan and the Bronx which has been closed to the public for nearly 40 years.

Opening the High Bridge to pedestrians and cyclists has been a long-held goal for many New Yorkers. (I remember reading about this effort back in 1998, during a postcard campaign directed at then-Parks Commissioner Henry Stern.) Many community groups, non-profits, and public agencies have advocated for its restoration, including the City Parks Foundation, The High Bridge Coalition, and C.L.I.M.B.

Over the years, many target opening dates have been announced, but recently momentum has really picked up. Very early in 2010, community input and design will finally begin. Then, if all goes well, it shouldn't be long until we can all walk and bike across this magnificent structure.

The Department of Parks & Recreation has posted an online High Bridge survey (here it is in Spanish), and will be collecting responses until September 7. Two items at issue are bike access and park hours. The original plan called for the restored bridge to be open only on weekends, and only during the day, severely limiting its viability as a transportation link. Parks representatives have said the city will make use of existing park trails and bike routes for cycling access, but specifics remain unclear. 

The Parks Dept. has been very sensitive to public input to this point. It's important that the city hear from pedestrians and cyclists who want a useful, accessible car-free route between Manhattan and the Bronx. 

Photo: Daniel Avila/NYC Parks

The occasion was a "listening session" hosted by the Department of Parks & Recreation, when dozens of uptowners filed into the High Bridge Park Recreation Center at 173rd Street and Amsterdam to share visions of revitalizing the oldest bridge in New York City.

Built as part of the Croton Aqueduct, the High Bridge connects Washington Heights in Manhattan with the High Bridge neighborhood in the Bronx. It stopped carrying water in 1958, and was closed to the public completely in 1970. The Wednesday, June 20 meeting was part public input session, part celebration, as just a few months ago many in attendance would not have believed a long-awaited High Bridge comeback could be so close to fruition. But on April 22, Mayor Bloomberg singled out the project as a centerpiece of his PlaNYC reveal, and backed it up with $60 million in city funds. An additional five million will come from federal coffers -- not to mention the $500 check presented Wednesday from students of Bronx P.S. 126, who chose the High Bridge as the recipient of their Penny Harvest donation drive.

"We have the funding in hand," said Ellen Macnow, who led the meeting for the Parks Department. "This is not a pipe dream anymore."

Happy as they are with the rapidly accelerated pace of the renewal, residents spoke clearly about their expectations for the project. High among them was access to the car-free bridge for bike and pedestrian commuting. Going into the meeting, the city had planned to restrict usage to daytime weekend hours, but Macnow insisted such matters remain open to community direction.

"We wouldn't have a bridge for cars in the city that wouldn't be open at night and only on the weekend," said Susan Murray, an artist who brought the High Bridge project to the attention of Streetsblog readers last week. Murray said she presently has to use the Washington Bridge at 181st Street, which she described as "scary" after dark.

As for getting on and off the bridge, the city plans to make use of existing park trails and bike routes, making accommodations for cyclists as necessary. Other questions centered on the installation of benches (none are planned as of now) and fencing (for safety reasons, high fences flanking the span are "something of a necessity").

Macnow said the department will likely adjust access hours based on usage, and assured residents that their wishes will be a guiding factor: "We are with you all the way. We want everybody who wants to use the bridge to use the bridge."

Streetsblog spoke briefly with Macnow today. Based on feedback since the meeting, including comments from Streetsblog readers, she said the department's original weekends-only plan may be adjusted.

"We have a little while to figure it out," she said.

The groundbreaking for the renovation will be held at noon tomorrow (Thursday, June 27), on the terrace of the High Bridge water tower, near Amsterdam and West 174th Street. Design work is set to commence in the fall, with construction starting in the summer of 2009.

Photo: joshbousel/Flickr

A tipster sends along this snapshot of the parking lot... I mean, sidewalk, outside the High Bridge Recreational Center prior to the meeting last night to discuss plans for the revitalized High Bridge. The talk inside, she says, "was much more encouraging" than the government employee parking situation outside.

This is a guest post by Susan Murray, author of the Urban Naturalist.

The High Bridge, a graceful stone and steel bridge, reminiscent of the great Roman aqueducts, spans the Harlem River between parks in Washington Heights and the Highbridge neighborhood in the Bronx. Erected in 1848, decades before the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, it is Manhattan's oldest bridge, designed not just for transportation but to carry water as well. The water stopped flowing a long time ago, and the bridge was closed to people in the 1960s. Though it is no longer in use, there are plans to bring it back to life, a project that is expected to cost $60 million. The planned reopening of this crossing, built in a pre-automotive era, presents a great opportunity for Livable Streets advocates to help shape what could be a unique pedestrian and bicycle link between Manhattan and the Bronx.

In fact, the Parks Dept. is hosting a public meeting to discuss the High Bridge tomorrow evening:

Come talk about Your Vision for the High Bridge
Wednesday, June 20, 2007 - 6:30 pm
Highbridge Recreation Center
2301 Amsterdam Avenue at 173rd Street, Manhattan
212-927-5864

A little background:

In the late 1960s, High Bridge Park in Washington Heights fell into disrepair. It became a dumping ground for abandoned cars, a haven for drug dealers and gangs and a dangerous place for local residents.

During this period, the city, strapped for funds and lacking interest in rehabilitating a park so far uptown, decided to close the bridge to prevent vandals from dumping junk off of it into the Harlem River. Massive steel gates laced with barbed wire were erected to prevent people from accessing the bridge. Far from calming the chaos, closing the bridge only made High Bridge Park more desolate and less watched.

The park became a dangerous, anarchic cul de sac and fell further into disrepair and anarchy. But over the past 10 years or so, neighborhood organizations, caring individuals and the New York Restoration Project have worked hard to clean up High Bridge Park. These days you're more likely to see kids playing baseball than dealers selling drugs. A recent announcement from Mayor Bloomberg has the neighborhood excited: Thanks to a $5 million allocation from Congressman José E. Serrano, work on the High Bridge has begun. After decades of dreaming, it sounds like it's really going to happen.

The reopened bridge will revitalize the park, making it accessible to both the Bronx and Manhattan. It will restore a vital transportation link for bikers and pedestrians in the area and it will preserve one of the city's finest historical monuments.

As the Parks Department moves to the planning stages, Livable Streets and bicycling advocates should make their voices heard. We need to make it clear that this bridge can be more than just a scenic vista and tourist attraction. It can be a vital part of New York City's growing bicycle transportation network.

With a significant slope from the top of High Bridge down to the bridge entrance there is a risk that Parks Dept. officials will choose to install stairways without bike ramps leading to the entrance of the bridge. I am hoping some of you can join me at tomorrow's meeting to help make the case for convenient bike access to the bridge. Likewise, it would be a tragedy if the money allocated to rehabilitate the bridge was mostly spent on "security measures" such as unnecessarily high fences that would block the breathtaking view and cumbersome gates. As a vital transportation link, the High Bridge ought to remain open 24-hours a day.