The Kosciuszko Bridge – the biggest bottleneck on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway – is expected to finally flow more freely. Gov. Cuomo announced in May the second span of the Kosciuszko Bridge will open to traffic in September, well ahead of schedule.
The new suspension bridge connects Brooklyn and Queens over the Newtown Creek, and replaces the old truss bridge by the same name. The structure carries some 200,000 cars a day. The first span of the new bridge opened to traffic in 2017; it is currently running with three lanes of traffic in each direction.
Once it’s complete, the bridge’s two spans will contain five lanes for Queens-bound traffic, four lanes for those heading into Brooklyn, and a 20-foot-wide bike and pedestrian path.
The old Kosciuszko Bridge, which was demolished in 2017, first opened in 1939.
When construction began in 2014, engineers estimated completion by 2023. That date was pushed up to 2020. Now, they are saying it will open even earlier. Cuomo said the quick finish was the result of a “design-build” approach, also used on the new Tappan Zee Bridge.
When the second span on the new bridge is completed commuters will be able to cross the structure without a car for the first time in decades. Construction will continue after the new span opens, but the work will be mostly “cosmetic,” according to Cuomo spokesman Patrick Muncie.
Source: Daily News
