Closures on the Verrazzano Bridge often lead to congestion in the surrounding
neighborhoods, locals claim. File photo by Steve Solomonson
COURIER LIFE, APRIL 9-15, 2021 3
BY JESSICA PARKS
When high winds force
transit authorities to shutter
the upper level of the Verrazzano
Bridge, the surrounding
neighborhoods become inundated
with idle cars waiting
their turns to board the span’s
lower level — infuriating cardependent
locals, who are
forced to suffer through the
onerous congestion.
“Whenever you close the
Verrazzano Bridge, and couple
that with a high traffi c day,
it’s complete gridlock,” said
Josephine Beckmann, district
manager of Bay Ridge’s Community
Board 10. “Whenever
the bridge is closed we immediately
feel the impact.”
The nearly 60-year-old
bridge sees approximately
200,000 vehicles traveling in
both directions each day, with
the highest infl ux of traffi c
westbound from Brooklyn to
Staten Island between 3 and 8
pm, according to a 2016 report
from the city’s Department of
Transportation.
On March 26, public offi -
cials elected to close the 228-
foot-tall bridge’s upper level
due to safety concerns from
high wind speeds, resulting in
widespread traffi c jams in Bay
Ridge and Dyker Heights.
“The entire community
was in gridlock, it took me
an hour and a half to get from
86th Street and Third Avenue
to 70th Street,” said Beckmann.
“It was the worst I have
seen in a long time.”
With the neighborhood’s
streets at a standstill, many
residents worried that emergency
vehicles would not get
to their destinations, Beckermann
told Brooklyn Paper.
“We spoke to residents who
work in Staten Island and commuted,
who said it took four
hours to get from Bay Ridge to
Staten Island,” she said.
While the bridge must be
closed to keep drivers safe, the
area’s councilmember is calling
on the city to implement a
contingency plan in the event of
another closure on the bridge.
“Safety is non negotiable,
and I have no interest in calling
to keep the upper levels open
even when it may be dangerous
to do so,” Councilmember Justin
Brannan said in a March
29th letter addressed to the
MTA and city Offi ce of Emergency
Management. “However,
shutting down the Verrazzano
without a contingency plan in
place for our neighborhood is
unacceptable.”
The community board
recommended implementing
a notifi cation system warning
the public of the closure,
which could lead drivers to
seek alternate routes, as many
had been unaware of the closures
until they were stuck in
standstill traffi c.
“Sometimes just an alert is
helpful, because if you’re aiming
to travel, you may change
your plans,” Beckmann said. “I
think getting the word out and
encouraging people to change
their plans and avoiding the
area. Many people don’t realize
until they hit a certain point.”
A safety plan for the neighborhoods
that automatically
triggers when there is a bridge
closure should have been implemented
a long time ago,
Brannan argues, as transportation
offi cials must consider
the safety of the neighborhood’s
residents as well as the
bridge’s commuters.
“The same spirit of safety
that drives Verrazzano Bridge
closures demands a contingency
plan for our neighborhood,”
Brannan wrote. “The
MTA’s system as it stands closes
the upper levels for safety, but
then creates a dangerous situation
in the neighborhood with
no one there to manage it.”
JAMMED UP!
Verrazzano Bridge closures cause ‘dangerous’
gridlock in surrounding nabes: locals
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