Two-way traffic on Steinway Street Bridge

The Steinway Street Bridge in Astoria, which has been under construction since July 2004, has been reopened to two-way traffic, and construction, which still blocks half of the northbound side of the bridge is expected to be completed by October 2007, the City's Department of Transportation (DOT) announced recently. In addition, two-way traffic was also restored on two other overpasses that connect Astoria Boulevards North and South - at 37th Street and 43rd Street.
In July 2004, while city contractors were working on the bridge, a three-ton piece of concrete from the Steinway Street Bridge broke off and fell onto the Grand Central Parkway below, injuring one driver, Dimitrios Godosis. Fifteen months later, the city switched contractors for the $18 million project, delaying the project by six months, but now construction is back on track.
For business owners in the Steinway section of Astoria, the re-opening of the bridge and overpasses comes as a welcome relief. For more than two years, shop owners in the &#8220Little Egypt” area have blamed construction on the bridge - which they said often caused large rush-hour delays and prevented cars from traveling one-way on Steinway Street - for poor sales and halting business.
Michael Kambanis, the owner of the Astoria Diner located at 32-50 Steinway Street, said that he noticed less traffic on the street, which is dubbed &#8220The World’s Longest Department Store,” since he took over ownership of the diner two years ago.
&#8220I always avoid it [the bridge] because I thought it was closed,” Kambanis said.
When asked if he was happy that the bridge had been reopened - in addition to the restoration of the two overpasses, Kambanis said, &#8220of course, it's good.”
Although he could not estimate the amount of business that he believed he had lost while the bridge was under construction - he became owner after construction began - Kambanis said that he expects business to pick up now that the bridge has been reopened to two-way traffic.