A massive timber bridge stretching nearly 300 feet (100m), or the length of a typical NYC block, has opened ahead of schedule at the High Line in New York City.
Dubbed the Moynihan Connector, the new addition extends the elevated park’s reach from its current endpoint at West 30th Street and 10th Avenue to a public plaza within the Manhattan West development.
The pedestrian pathway connects Penn Station and Moynihan Train Hall in Midtown with the West Village’s transit hubs.
The project, proposed in September 2022, commenced construction in February 2023 and opened on Wednesday, June 21 2023, without delay.
The wooden truss bridge weighs 128 tons, and comprises 163 Alaskan Yellow Cedar beams. Patrick Hazari supervised the construction and said they were “assembled like an Erector set.” The bridge was put together on the ground before two cranes hoisted it 25 feet above Dyer Avenue.
In May The New York Times reported that two cranes working in tandem gradually lifted the first section of the bridge, while hard-hat workers secured one end to Y-shaped steel supports. Several hours later, the second portion of the bridge was positioned into place.
The Moynihan Connector traces West 30th toward West 31st Street before making a 90-degree turn at Dyer Avenue, near the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. The bridge extends northward into the public plaza at Manhattan West. Along 30th Street, the Woodland Bridge, another segment of the Moynihan Connector, will house 5-foot-deep soil containers for lush plantings along the pathway. Corten steel decking and bronze handrails will visually connect the two bridges.
A collaborative effort between James Corner Field Operations, who contributed to the High Line’s original design, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the connector’s design is set to enhance the area’s aesthetic.
The two bridges run above Dyer Avenue and West 30th Street, creating what the team calls an “elevated, accessible, and episodic urban journey from the doorstep of Moynihan Train Hall to the contemporary public spaces of Brookfield’s Manhattan West and the verdant gardens and historic structure of the High Line.”
This $50 million (USD) project, which extends the park by an additional 1,200 feet (400m), is a public-private partnership involving Friends of the High Line, Empire State Development, and Brookfield Properties.
Now open, the connector promises to be a “green, safe, accessible, and inspiring” alternative to the busy streets below, according to Alan van Capelle, the High Line’s executive director. “This is going to be a much more pleasant and exciting way to get to different parts of our city on the West Side,” he added. The Moynihan Connector is poised to become a significant milestone in New York City’s development and infrastructure enhancement, transforming pedestrian connectivity and revitalising urban spaces.
