By Scott Etkin
The Central Park Conservancy is planning to remedy an issue that’s likely familiar to walkers and joggers who frequent Central Park’s Bridle Path: the abrupt end to the path underneath Pinebank Arch, near West 62nd Street.
Currently, park-goers stuck at the dead end often resort to cutting across the nearby lawns and planting beds. Next year the Conservancy, which manages and maintains the park, will remove this dead end and create a new asphalt path that connects with other nearby paths.
It will also add plantings and benches beneath the bridge, according to information shared at a recent Community Board 7 meeting.
This project came about because of the restoration of Pinebank Arch, which is set to be completed this fall. Pinebank Arch is one of the four remaining cast iron bridges in Central Park.
The Conservancy hopes that resolving the dead-end-path issue will improve access to the arch and its sight-lines.
It’s rare to reach a dead end when traveling along Central Park’s many winding and looping paths. These interconnected pathways allow people using different modes of transportation to continue uninterrupted, according to Diane Jackier, vice president of program management at the Central Park Conservancy.
“One of the most ingenious ideas that [Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux] had was to separate the traffic between the vehicles, the equestrians, and the pedestrians,” she said.
Originally, the Bridle Path continued past the dead end and went all the way to the southeast corner of the park. Over time, it became truncated to accommodate the construction of the Central Park Zoo and Heckscher Playground.
Construction on the new path is expected to begin in the spring of 2027. The scope of the project also includes removing overgrowth to improve views of the archway, and adding new plantings and benches.
The project’s estimated budget is $1 million to $1.5 million, using private funding. It is expected to be completed in the spring of 2028.
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