West Street pedestrian bridges
The West Street pedestrian bridges are a group of crossings across West Street in Lower Manhattan. They connect Battery Park City with Tribeca and the Financial District, giving people safe ways to cross the busy street.
Before the September 11 attacks, there were three bridges: Chambers Street, Vesey Street (North Bridge), and Liberty Street (South Bridge). The Vesey Street bridge linked the World Trade Center area with the World Financial Center, while the Liberty Street bridge connected nearby sites. After the attacks, Vesey Street was destroyed and Liberty Street was badly damaged.
To keep people moving, temporary solutions were used. A Rector Street bridge opened in 2002 as a temporary fix. A temporary Vesey Street Bridge opened in 2003 near the old site, and was taken down by 2013 when an underground World Trade Center hub connected to the area. The Rector Street bridge was renovated and renamed as Rector Street Bridge #2, but the new West Thames Street Bridge eventually replaced it.
The West Thames Street Bridge, officially named the Robert R. Douglass Bridge, opened in 2019. It is about 230 feet long and uses a two-span lenticular truss design. It connects West Thames Street in Battery Park City to Ward Street in the Financial District, replacing the Rector Street crossing. The bridge was dedicated in 2021 to Robert R. Douglass, a longtime advocate for lower Manhattan.
The Vesey Street and Liberty Street bridges were updated over time. The Vesey Street bridge included elevators and escalators to improve accessibility, but it suffered maintenance problems and was removed in 2013, with a pedestrian crosswalk and underground connections taking its place. The Liberty Street bridge was extended and reorganized, with new access added on West Street and connections to Liberty Park completed later.
Chambers Street Bridge, built in 1992, improves connections for the northern part of Battery Park City and connects to Stuyvesant High School. Its night lighting won a design award in 1996.
All of the bridges are equipped with elevators and ramps to be accessible to people with disabilities.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 19:42 (CET).