September completion eyed for new Kosciuszko Bridge
BY MARK HALLUM
The Kosciuszko Bridge, or
the K Bridge as Governor
Andrew Cuomo calls
it, will have its second
cable-stayed span open this
September, bringing the reconstruction
project to a close well
ahead of schedule.
In May, Cuomo conducted a
press tour of the work site up
more than 10 flights of stairs
unveiling a nearly completed
roadway as well as cabling to
suspend the concrete and steel
above Newtown Creek.
“This replacement bridge
was done in a totally different
method than the state had used
before: it’s what is referred to
as design build construction,”
Cuomo said. “This bridge is
four years ahead of schedule
from what the original time
estimate was if the government
had done the job. So just the
initial change, the design build
saved us four years.”
The second span of the Kosciuszko Bridge is set to open this September.
Photo by Mark Hallum
There will be five Queensbound
lanes and four Brooklyn
bound lanes upon the
second spans completion and
will include a pedestrian and
bike path.
Making the bridge accessible
to foot traffic and bikes
was a opportunity for the
state to build green space on
each side allowing access to
the waterfront.
The project totaled $873
million for the state with over
$100,000 incentive for everyday
the contractors push closer to
completion ahead of schedule.
Until the May 6 announcement,
the expected completion
date had been December.
In April 2017, Cuomo cut the
ribbon on the eastern span of
the bridge with flare by arrive
at the ceremony driving a 1932
Packard owned by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, who also
served as governor of New York.
“That bridge is now handling
the same volume of traffic
that the old bridge was handling,”
Cuomo said. “I think
it enhances the Brooklyn and
Queens skyline … When you
think about this bridge being
the first bridge since the Verrazzano,
1964, that means an
entire generation has grown
up having not seen any new
dramatic, big projects.”
The original Kosciuszko
Bridge was built in 1929 and
named after a Revolutionary
War hero from Poland. The new
spans between Brooklyn and
Queens will increase capacity
and decrease delays by 65 percent,
according to Cuomo.
The old bridge, dismantled
over the course of 2017, was
built to endure about 10,000 vehicles,
but was actually seeing
double that amount of crossings
per day, Cuomo said.
2019 QUEENS TOMORROW 37