NY DAILY NEWS ON THE BUMPS!

Bumpy road to a fix City finally dumps bridge humps BY ELIZABETH HAYS DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER A stretch of bone-rattling bumps along the Williamsburg Bridge bike and pedestrian path is finally getting smoothed out. Following several reports by the Daily News, city workers have begun replacing all 26 of the path's unpopular expansion joints covers - which critics charge have caused scores of bike crashes and violate federal accessibility laws. "It's a huge improvement," said cyclist Doug Marvin, a musician from Greenpoint who regularly rides over the bridge. "I had a blowout on the bridge from hitting the bumps," he added. "I'm glad they're finally doing something about it." The changes come after the city was slapped with $12 million in lawsuits from six cyclists who were hurt riding over the plates on the Manhattan side, said attorney Adam White who is representing the bikers. "They're awful," said A'yen Tran, who commutes across the bridge on her bike every day. "They bend your rims, and they're scary because you can lose control of your bike every time you go over them." The city's Transportation Department began replacing the raised metal covers with flatter plates last week, a project it hopes to finish by December. It will cost about $2,000,000 to replace the original covers - which have a straight edge that rises nearly 2 inches from the path, officials said. "It's too bad that so many cyclists crashed and were severely injured, but to the city's credit, they recognized this was a problem and are making it safer," said Noah Budnick of Transportation Alternatives, who led the campaign to remove the bumps. "From what I've seen on paper, it looks like it will be a very good improvement." Disabled advocates had argued the bumps were too steep for wheelchairs and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. After insisting last spring the covers did not violate federal law, DOT officials acknowledged this week the steep metal plates were "not fully" in compliance. "The enhanced bumps will make the bridge fully ADA compliant," said DOT spokeswoman Kay Sarlin. Not everyone was happy the bumps will be removed. Isaac Abraham, a leader in the Williamsburg Satmar community, argued the bumps help to slow cyclists. Just yesterday, Abraham said his wife, Sara, was stuck by a cyclist during her daily morning walk across the bridge. "Not only should the bumps be there, the bumps should be higher," said Abraham, whose wife was taken to NYU Medical Center for treatment. DOT officials said they are looking to install signs warning cyclists to slow down. Originally published on September 22, 2005