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Earn up to $800 a week keeping New Yorkers safe
at NYC Parks’ beaches and pools. Qualifying tests
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St. Mary’s Recreation Center
East 145th Street and St. Ann’s Avenue
Dec. 21: 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Dec. 28: 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, D BTR ECEMBER 7-13, 2018 17
The Throggs Neck Bridge should see the replacement of its entire roadway decking beginning
with preliminary ancillary work in 2019 and starting in earnest in 2020.
Schneps Media / Alexander Mitchell
Throgs Neck Bridge deck
replacement to start in 2020
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A major reconstruction project is
coming to a bridge near you.
The Metropolitan Transportation
Authority has begun outreach on what
will be a four-year project that will include
a complete replacement of the
roadway and structural steel supports
on the Throgs Neck’s Bridge’s suspended
span.
The contract should be awarded
shortly and prep work should begin in
early 2019 with the bridge deck reconstruction
itself expected to commence
in 2020, according to the MTA.
The construction will mark the
fi rst time that the suspended roadway
deck will be completely replaced since
it was constructed in the late 1950s,
though a MTA spokesman stated that
elevated viaduct approaches to the
bridge was rebuilt in the 1980s, Queens
connecting roads were redone in 1994
and there was a 2010 concrete deck replacement
on the Queens approach.
Community leaders who were being
fi lled in on the plan, which will
include replacing the deck steel under
the roadway with lighter but stronger
steel, expressed a desire to work with
the MTA as well as concerns about
possible ramifi cations for traffi c on
service roads and streets near Locust
Point, Pennyfi eld and Harding avenues
and the Throgs Neck Expressway.
Rob Barbarelli, Throggs Neck
Home Owners Association vice president,
said that the organization is in
favor of infrastructure improvement
but is concerned about traffi c backups
on the I-495 and local roads.
“Additionally, the members would
be in favor of closing the Harding Avenue
on-ramp on weekends and holidays
while this construction is occurring,”
said Barbarelli.
In the past, when traffi c backs up
on the expressway, motorists sometimes
use the Throgs Neck Expressway
service road as a shortcut to reach
the Harding Avenue on-ramp, in some
cases blocking Locust Point Road, the
only access point to Locust Point, said
Joe Donovan, Locust Point Civic Association
president.
Barbarelli also said the community
would likely request that lane closures
only occur when there is work going
on, and that work be done at night if
possible.
“I know they have a job to do, but I
hope they do it with as little disruption
to the community as possible,” said
Donovan, adding he would like to go
over the full plan at a town-hall style
event.
An MTA spokesman said that the
project is expected to take four years
in total, but the bridge deck will only
be under construction for a portion of
this time.
MTA’s plan calls for the using moveable
barriers that have been successfully
implemented in past bridge deck
reconstructions, which will allow the
bridge to maintain full capacity travel
lanes during morning and evening
rushes, said the spokesman.
All work will be coordinated with
the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, stated
the MTA spokesman.
The new deck should improve the
seismic and wind performance of the
bridge, stated the spokesman.
Upgrades will also include structural
reinforcement, new fi re standpipe,
painting, lighting, and new medians
and side barriers.
Matt Cruz, Community Board 10
district manager, said that it seems
probable that the MTA will be before
the board to discuss the plan soon.
“We look forward to this conversation
and we are sure the community is
going to have a lot of questions,” said
Cruz.