Transport officials in New York are considering expanding the city’s historic Brooklyn Bridge due to the congestion caused by swathes of pedestrians, tourists, vendors and cyclists.

Global engineering consultancy AECOM have been commissioned to begin a seven-month engineering study assessing how much weight the 133-year old bridge can carry and considering options for expansion.

Mooted suggestions include widening the promenade. The bridge contains a crossing for cars at a lower level, and one solution AECOM will explore is building new decks on top of the girders that run above the car lanes.

Bike and pedestrian lanes may also be separated by barriers or placed on different levels to limit drifting between them and reduce the chance of collisions or bottlenecks.

In an interview with the New York Times, the city’s transport commissioner Polly Trottenberg said “we want to think in a deep, thoughtful way about the next evolution of the bridge.”

The popularity of the Brooklyn Bridge has led to it receiving the moniker of “the Times Square in the Sky”. On a typical weekday, 10,000 pedestrians and 3,500 cyclists make the crossing.