4 AUGUST 29, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Second new K-Bridge span opens to traffi c
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Decades in the planning and
making, the Kosciuszko Bridge
reconstruction project is set to
end today (Thursday 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. “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
on 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 designbuild
construction and new in New
York state, according to Cuomo.
The second cable-stayed 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
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.
A public preview of the second
new span will take place from
noon to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug.
28, before the bridge is opened for
traffic on Thursday morning, the
governor’s office said.
However, it is unclear whether
Cuomo will arrive at the ribboncutting
ceremony in a 1932 Packard
owned by FDR as he did at the 2017
opening as well as the opening
of the Mario Cuomo Bridge, the
Tappan Zee Bridge replacement
named for Cuomo’s father and
former governor.
Governor Andrew Cuomo and a construction worker survey the second
span of the new Kosciuszko Bridge, which is set to open Aug. 29.
Photo courtesy of the governor’s offi ce via Flickr
On this Labor Day, please join me
in recognizing and thanking
the efforts of our workforce
Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr.
New York State Senator
District 15
159-53 102nd Street
Howard Beach, NY 11414
(718) 738-1111
(718) 322-5760 – FAX
66-85 73rd Place
Middle Village, N.Y. 11379
(718) 497-1630
(718) 497-1761-FAX
in this great city.
Member of the Senate Labor and
Civil Service & Pension Committees
On This
Labor Day
- Thank you to all the
workers who have
fought so hard for fair
wages and better
working conditions.
Assemblyman Mike Miller, District 38
83-91 Woodhaven Blvd. Woodhaven, NY 11421
718-805-0950
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