[payowlirriply]

Greetings, Wired New York. Long time reader, first time poster.

Today I walked home from my office in NoHo across the Manhattan Bridge. Only problem was, when I got to the Brooklyn side, all the fences around the little plaza where the walkway connects to ground level were locked! Not having ever walked over the bridge before, I didn't know what to do, so ended up backtracking a bit, going under the bridge, dodging folks in the bike lane, going across the BQE, and eventually ended up on Gold Street which got me back (circuitously) to Flatbush Ave.

Anyway, what's the deal with the Brooklyn side? Are those fences always locked at the disagreeable hour of 7:30pm? Or did I miss some secret escape route?

[secondmertg]

The fences actually guide you to the corner intersection, which is reverse of the direction across the bridge. This is due to the fact that the Manhattan Bridge exit ramp dumps a never ending movement of cars onto Jay Street where the walkway actually ends. To minimize danger to pedestrians from the cars (that almost always fail to stop at the "stop" sign), they put the fences up to guide pedestrians to the traffic controlled intersection. Most people who are agile or who can squeeze etween the fence and retaiing wall at the end of the way, simply skirt over or around the fences. A better solution would be a mid-block traffic light at the end of the walkway and a flasing red light at the end of the car ramp.