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Narr:
Wind sweeps across the concrete path that hovers over the train tracks on the Manhattan side of the Williamsburg Bridge. Joggers, cyclists and pedestrians make their way down into the borough from the East River crossing.
Actuality: (00:02)
Bridge sound up
Narr:
Pedestrians might hardly notice the yellow metal bumps that cover the bridge's expansion joints. There are 26 in total, spread out at about 50 foot intervals. They look like speed bumps and jut up 2 inches. Pedestrians can just step over them. But cyclists, especially those coming down into Manhattan from the elevated roadway, have to slow down and take some weight off of their front tires so they can ride over the bumps. Cyclists say the jolts from the joints are anything but comfortable.
Actuality: (00:03)
Bridge sound, riding over bumps
Narr:
Noah Budnick of Transportation Alternatives says cyclists have been complaining about the path since it opened in late 2002. He says the design of the expansion joint covers is dangerous.
Tape: Budnick (00:25)
It's essentially like having two inch high curb going all the way across the path so if you can imagine if you've ever been on a bicycle how hard it is to negotiate up and down a curb imagine doing that 26 times in a very short amount of peace. It can knock you off balance and cause you to crash your bicycle.
Narr:
Since the path opened, five cyclists have filed lawsuits against the city, seeking a total of 10 million dollars in damages. The cyclists claim they were injured on the bridge after they hit the bumps. Adam White is a lawyer and member of Transportation Alternatives who represents all five cyclist. He says the joint covers are hard to take on a bike.
Tape: White (00:09 )
On a bike you're so vulnerable. There's nothing else around you and you're going to go flying and break bones, which has happened to many of my clients.
Narr:
One of those clients is Carsten Fleck, a photographer who lives in Williamsburg. He used to ride across the bridge almost every day. In late October of 2003, he was on his way into Manhattan when he hit one of the joint covers.
Tape: Fleck (00:23)
It must have punched the tire so I lost the air in the front tire and then it was like oops. You know those moments where everything slows down and you're like, I'm going down. It's bad. It didn't look that dramatic actually. It's not that I was tumbling or something. I just fell to the side and hit the pavement with my left hip.
Narr:
Fleck fractured his hip in several places. The city wouldn't comment on any of the lawsuits but it did say the expansion joint covers are necessary. Margaret Forgione is the Department of Transportation's Manhattan Borough Commissioner.
Tape: Forgione (00:20)
It's necessary to cover them because certain times of the year, summer versus winter, they expand and contract and when they're expanded it's actually quite a large opening so we didn't have a choice. We definitely needed to cover them for public safety.
Narr:
But Transportation Alternatives' Noah Budnick says the city does have options and uses them on other parts of the bridge.
Tape: Budnick (00:24)
There's one design the city could use that is flush and doesn't have any protrusion at all in the path. Or they could have used a wider, more gradual cover that doesn't jar people or put them at risk of tripping when they pass over it…and, in fact, on the Brooklyn side of the Williamsburg Bridge the city used the flush design, totally eliminating any bump on the bike path.
Narr:
The City's Forgione says that the DOT is now looking into its options. She says the review was prompted by complaints from cyclists and concerns that the bumps may mean the path violates the American's with Disabilities Act.
Tape: Forgione (00:10)
We're hiring another consultant who has never worked on the bike path or the Williamsburg Bridge in that capacity to look at the issue with a fresh perspective.
Narr:
Forgione says the consultant will advise the city on whether there's a better way to cover the expansion joints. She doesn't know when the study will be completed.--- In the meantime, the city is putting up more signs to warn cyclists crossing the bridge about the upcoming bumps. But Carsten Fleck, the rider who fractured his hip, says that he won't be riding across any time soon. He says that since he fell, riding his bike at all is no longer any fun.
Tape: Fleck (00:08)
Now it's just, it feels like kind of heavy to you. You just don't want to fall again.
Narr:
Attorney Adam White is scheduled to depose city officials on Fleck's behalf in late June. Both the lawyer and his client say they would rather settle - but only if the city agrees to change the expansion joint covers.
Sarah Dalsimer, Columbia Radio News