Miles SmithThe U.S. Department of Transportation is awarding two New York City-area projects grants totaling $260 million to support projects that include updating the Brooklyn Marine Terminal into a modern maritime port and constructing a continuous cycling route around Manhattan.
The two announcements represent the single largest day of competitive grant awards in New York City history, the city says.
$164 million will go toward a project to convert the 122-acre Brooklyn Marine Terminal into 21st century maritime port and mixed-use community.
The federal grant builds on a $95 million investment from New York City and New York state to stabilize and repair three piers and plan for a new electrified container crane for terminal operations.
The new funding will help rehabilitate and extend the life of Pier 10 – where the Red Hook Container Terminal is located – and replace Piers 9A and 9B with a new Pier 9 suited to handle modern ships and improve traffic and circulation for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists
$96 million will be used to build a greenway along 10th Avenue in Manhattan to help the city fill one of the remaining gaps in the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway to create a continuous cycling route around the island.
The new greenway segment will stretch 1.35 miles along 10th Avenue, from West 201st Street to West 218th Street, with new, direct connections to Inwood Hill Park at West 218th Street and the Bronx via the Broadway and University Heights bridges.
The project will complement plans for a historic greenway expansion across the five boroughs, including the Harlem River Greenway in the Bronx, which is currently in the planning stage.
It also includes addressing traffic safety upgrades in Inwood that include a new plaza, sidewalk extensions, pedestrian islands, bus boarding extensions, raised crosswalks, and improved lighting under the elevated subway line, the city says.
The project also helps advance the mission to “close the loop” for cyclists and pedestrians around the island of Manhattan.
The construction of the greenway includes safety upgrades along the 10th Avenue corridor, which ranks in the top 10% of Manhattan’s most dangerous streets, the city says. It will also include various pedestrian and cyclist improvements along Harlem River Drive, south of 10th Avenue.
Improvements will focus on reducing the time it takes pedestrians to cross the street, slowing turning vehicles, and improving boarding for bus riders along the corridor. The city will also install a full pedestrian plaza on Post Avenue between 10th Avenue and West 207th Street, adding vital public space to Inwood, the city says.
The Department of Design and Construction will build the project, which will enter the preliminary design phase in spring 2025, followed by additional public engagement, according to city officials.
Photo courtesy King of Hearts
