It finally happened.

Three or four years behind schedule, but the path on the north side of the George Washington Bridge finally opened. The south side path is finally closed–and will be for the next four years. No more walking five sets of stairs just to cross the Hudson, now it’s all ADA-compliant smooth and shallow ramps to and from the bridge, with widened plazas on sides of the towers. As currently imagined, this is it for cyclists forever, as the south side path is currently envisioned as a pedestrian-only pathway. (well, sort of; there have been contradictory statements on this issue.)

If you care to see the official announcement, you can find it here.

Anything that makes it easier to get to our Wormhole Rides should be appreciated.

We rode it. It’s…a mixed bag.

The approach on New York City streets is possibly worse than it was before. Coming from Fort Washington Ave and West 177th, where people used to ride to the south side ramp, you have to ride up Fort Washington, through a sort-of tunnel under the GWB Bus Terminal that is full of potholes and slowing cars, make a left onto West 178th across an entrance ramp to the bridge. It’s definitely more chaotic than the old way. But once on the bridge, the ramps are gentle, which should make it easier for newer riders, but it could also increase speed of more experienced cyclists.

It feels like the people who conceived of the north path lacked imagination. You can see it from the name. It’s the “NorthWalk,” yet its slated to be bikes-only when the south side path, the “SouthWalk” is completed some four years from now. The redesign did not address some of the obvious imitations that were present before they worked on it. Namely, the narrowness of the path at both ends and through the towers. The weird thing is the original design of the GWB actually addressed the limitations we’re dealing with almost 100 years later. The original drawings included 15′ wide pathways cantilevered on the outside of the support cables.

Still, without all the hastily constructed anti-sucide fencing and netting, without all the rust, with somewhat better sight lines and gentler grades, it’s a welcome change. If people are taking the Greenway uptown, they can get to the bridge by climbing up past the lighthouse to West 181st street and entering by turning right on Cabrini. For those coming back from Jersey, and wanting to return to the greeenway, it’s an easy to ride a block down West 180th, take the first left onto Pinehurst, and then the first left back on to West 181st.

The on-street approach from Fort Washington Avenue

This is what you seen when you turn left off of Fort Washington. While striping isn’t everything, some extra pain might help keep cars in lanes and slow them down.

It does quiet down a good bit past the entrance, but you still have to negotiate your way around parked cars and a curb to get to the entrance. I’m hoping they paint some lines on the street to constrain drivers and add some flexible delineators (plastic sticks) before the entrance ramp to slow down GWB-bound drivers.

The New York Entry

George Washington Bridge Northwalk Entry on New York City side. — Nice, wide entry, with space for people to gather. Just around the left curve is a viewing platform.

I should have taken a pic from 180th, as there still isn’t a wide curb-cut for getting onto the bridge and there’s still on-street parking by the entry. The ramp curves and climbs gently, currently smelling of paint, past a vista point, and then onto the bridge. While it’s pretty wide at the start, it squeezes down to probably less than 7′ by where the cables go under the upper deck.

Onto The Bridge

It’s nice they have another wide section. It’s not nice that it narrows so dramatically.

It feels really narrow.

George Washington Bridge Northwalk Narrows. — All the time and money on redesign and they kept this section narrow. They must have put some thought into this. Just no idea what those thoughts were.

But, once between the cables, it widens back to around 10′, which feels wider than it did on the south side, but it’s proably not wide enough, especially considering the Port Authority should be encouraging more people to ride over the bridge in the future.