Queens Bridges In Need Of Major Repairs

Half of Queens 190 bridges require extensive rehabilitation, it was reported by the Department of Transportations (DOT) just-released annual bridge report.
DOTs 2003 Annual Condition Report carries a detailed condition inventory of Queens bridges and tunnels covering all 14 community boards and five Parks Department zones.
The engineering report also revealed that, for the past two years, two Parks Department bridges in Queens were in "extremely serious condition which engineers deemed potentially hazardous." Nine of the boroughs remaining 10 park bridges also need rehabilitation.
The bridges are in Queens two largest parks. One is located in the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park at 76th Road, and the other over a pedestrian walk in Alley Pond Park. The citys Olympic Committee has already proposed to host athletic events in these parks in the forthcoming 2012 Olympics. Over one-third of the Parks Departments 33 bridges are in Queens.
Obviously concerned because they are Queens most heavily used parks and are adjacent to key transportation focal points, Councilman John Liu, the councils transportation chairman, declared, "This is a situation that needs to be addressed immediately. Any transit condition that poses a danger to public safety must be corrected immediately."
Each of the citys 736 bridges are inspected every two years by city and state inspectors, as mandated by federal law. In addition, there are also bridges maintained and inspected by agencies affiliated with various authorities, as well as state and city agencies. The inspections evaluate the effect of the daily pounding the bridges and tunnels take from over a million vehicles on the boroughs more than 90 arterial highway bridges, over 80 city street spans, on 16 waterway crossings and on 19 pedestrian overpasses.
State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky called the Olympics-bound spans "a bridge over troubled waters." Calling for the necessary emergency repairs, Stavisky declared, "Safety should be the prime consideration."
A $3.5 billion bridge reconstruction program launched 10 years ago has helped eliminate all of DOTs poor bridges in Queens. However, the 12 Parks Department bridges were not included in this reclamation project.
A Parks Department spokesperson said, "We are looking into the study and we will be working with the DOT to determine how to proceed."
During the past year, major repair and rehabilitation programs were conducted on 30 local bridges by DOT crews and contractors. Another 22 Queens bridges were in various design stages, while plans were being readied to start construction on another eight facilities.
A concerned Queens Borough President Helen Marshall has already begun monitoring the DOT report, declared her spokesman Dan Andrews. In particular, he said, she is preparing to reach out to the Parks and Transportation Department to set up a construction timetable.