4
QUEENS WEEKLY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2019
Second new K-Bridge
span opens to fanfare
Governor Andrew Cuomo, Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan and Congresswoman Carolyn
Malone helped cut the ribbong on the second span of the Kosciuszko Bridge on Aug. 28.
BY MARK HALLUM
Decades in the
planning and making,
the Kosciuszko Bridge
reconstruction project
wrapped up on Aug. 29 with
the opening of a second
cable-stayed bridge for
the Brooklyn-bound side
of the Brooklyn-Queens
Expressway.
After the grand opening
of the Queens-bound side
in April 2017, the project
is due for completion
ahead of the September
completion date that
Governor Andrew Cuomo
announced in May. In an
Aug. 25 announcement,
the governor noted that
the entire project is four
years ahead of original
completion projections.
“While the federal
administration obsesses
over building walls,
in New York, we are
building bridges and other
infrastructure critical to
moving our 21st century
economy forward,” Cuomo
said on Aug. 25. “With the
opening of the second span
of the new Kosciuszko
Bridge on Wednesday,
we will once again
demonstrate to the nation
that it’s possible to take
on big projects and to get
them done on time and o
n budget.”
During a press tour in
May, Cuomo noted that the
project totaled $873 million
for the state with an over
$100,000 incentive for every
day the contractors push
closer to completion ahead
of schedule. This financing
model for infrastructure
is known as design-build
construction and new in
New York state, according
to Cuomo.
The second cablestayed
span will carry
four Brooklyn-bound lanes
of the BQE, along with a
pedestrian and bike path.
The first span, which
has carried traffic in
both directions since its
opening in 2017, will be
reconfigured for five lanes
Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
of Queens-bound traffic.
The original, 77-
year-old bridge opened
in 1939 under President
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s
administration. as a New
Deal public works project.
Originally linking
Meeker Avenue in
Brooklyn with Van Dam
Street in Queens, the steel
truss bridge was later
incorporated into the BQE
when it was constructed
— and quickly became a
traffic-filled nightmare in
constant need of repair in
later years.
It also did not meet
many formal federal
highway standards for
shoulders and lane width.
The first Kosciuszko
Bridge was dismantled
following the opening of
the first new cable-stayed
span in 2017.
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by email at
mhallum@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4564.
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