New York State, New York City, and local elected officials kicked off construction of the West Thames Street Pedestrian Bridge with a groundbreaking event in Battery Park City. The new pedestrian bridge will span 230 feet across Route 9A/West Street, from the corner of Joseph P. Ward Street and West Street to the corner of West Thames Street and Little West Street, with a single mid-span pier placed in the median of West Street. LMDC has completed an Environmental Assessment concerning the West Thames Street Pedestrian Bridge Project, and made findings based on the EA. It is designed as a covered lenticular truss bridge with both an elevator and access stairway at each of the two terminus points, providing a permanent, direct pedestrian connection from the Financial District to Battery Park City, the Hudson River waterfront, and other local attractions. mid-2018, the West Thames Street Pedestrian Bridge will replace the existing temporary Rector Street Pedestrian Bridge, which was constructed as an interim crossing of West Street after September 11, 2001. The new pedestrian bridge was designed by Thornton Tomasetti/Weidlinger Transportation and WXY Architecture + Urban Design. New York City Economic Development Corporation, through its contractor Skanska USA, is leading the project’s construction efforts. The project is receiving approximately $33 million in federal funding from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of a Community Development Block Grant through LMDC, and approximately $8.2 million from BPCA, which will assume primary maintenance responsibilities for the bridge upon completion. The New York City Department of Transportation will own the bridge and assume secondary maintenance responsibilities. In addition to the structure itself, supplemental landscaping will be provided along the existing dog run near the western end of the new bridge in Battery Park City. “The long-awaited West Thames Street Bridge will provide a crucial link from the Financial District and its subway stations, to Battery Park City and the Hudson River waterfront,” said Empire State Development President, CEO & Commissioner Howard Zemsky. “Thanks to Governor Cuomo's leadership, we are nearing completion of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's (LMDC) mission, of rebuilding Lower Manhattan following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.”

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