Sunday, January 9, 2011

Bridge of the Week #42: Cropsey Ave. Bridge




OK, back to the bridges, and a little catching up to do. And moving away from the Bronx, we're back in Brooklyn for the Cropsey Ave. Bridge. This is a double twin-leaf bascule drawbridge (two twin-leaf bridges side by side) over Coney Island Creek on Cropsey Ave. between Bay 54 St. on the north and Hart Place on the south, or just a little farther to the north is Shore Parkway and the Belt Parkway, and a little to the south is Neptune Ave. In fact, just a few blocks to the south is the Coney Island Boardwalk, the Brooklyn Cyclones stadium and the Parachute Jump (visible in the top picture).
The bridge was opened on December 20, 1931, each side carries three lanes of traffic and a sidewalk. Cropsey Ave. carries a lot of traffic as one of the main roads to Coney Island.
For the runner, as for anyone, there is plenty to do at Coney Island, less in winter, but still a good place to run as long as you have a little patience with the traffic. The Cropsey Ave. Bridge can be a connector between the Shore Road pathway, a 4-mile sidewalk/bike path along the Brooklyn waterfront from Owl's Head Park under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (remember that one?) to Bay Parkway, and about another mile along Shore Parkway to the Cropsey Ave. Bridge. For a good long run, you can continue east on Neptune Ave. about a mile and a half when it becomes Emmons Ave. at Sheepshead Bay, and catch a bike path that can take you miles along the waters of Gateway National Recreation Area, and the bridges to the Rockaways, which I'll discuss later.

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