19 BRONX WEEKLY December 9, 2018 www.BXTimes.com
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
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
Throggs Neck is ready for Mayor de Blasio’s BID approval
Jaen, who has been instrumental
in the BID’s
approval process, said that
ideally he would want to
attract a Panera Bread or
a Modell’s Sporting Goods
to the Throggs Neck BID
to realize his vision of
strenghtening the area’s
retail offerings.
Since 2014 when the
project began moving forward,
BID advocates cited
the Mall at Bay Plaza and
other nearby malls for divertinging
retail customers
away from the Throggs
Neck retail corridor.
Bringing new, popular
retailers onto East Tremont
Avenue would help offset
the ramifi cations that
the malls and super shopping
centers have done to
the local commercial base.
However, the effort to
restore the commercial viability
to the BID area is
a marathon rather than a
sprint, it will take time.
The BID’s inaugural
year will be mostly spent
in hiring an executive director
along with other
committee personnel.
Then it will get down to
business, literally.
For Jaen and the rest of
the BID board, that doesn’t
mean the fi rst year is not
going to put to good use.
“Even thought the fi rst
year will probably start
slow, we’re working on a
beautifi cation campaign
in Throggs Neck to get the
area up to speed with the
BID,” Jaen said.
He along with Community
Board 10 district
manager Matt Cruz has
embarked on a campaign
with the NYC Department
of Transportation to install
improved street lighting
throughout Throggs
Neck, from East Tremont
Avenue and Bruckner
Boulevard all the way to
Marina del Ray at Schurz
Avenue.
DOT agreed to fund
and install the lighting,
according to Jaen.
The BID’s anticipated
$340,000 budget from the
get-go will be used to enhance
Bob Jaen, Steven Kaufman and other BID members celebrate at City Hall. Courtesy of Steven Kaufman
street cleaning and
install 360-degree security
cameras.
“Before we can even
start to bring in businesses,
we want the residents
to appreciate the
area. We’re ready to start
the ball rolling,” Jaen
said.
In the meantime, the
BID plans to focus some of
its efforts on celebrating
and promoting the rich
history of Fort Schuyler
and the surrounding waterfront
area.
Similar to Sag Harbor
on Long Island, Jaen envisions
the BID supporting
an emerging historic district
based in and around
the Throggs Neck shoreline.
from Page 1
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 onramp
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 onramp,
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.
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