By Stephen Stirling
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bridges and Tunnels division has awarded a nearly $100 million contract to a New Jersey construction firm to begin an overhaul of the Queens approach to the Throgs Neck Bridge.
E.E. Cruz & Company of Holmdel, N.J., was tapped by the state agency to head up the $96.7 million project, which will revamp the roadway deck leading up to the bridge, which links Queens through Beechhurst to the Bronx.
The project is expected to take more than two and a half years to complete.
“This major and timely work is part of our program to keep the 47-year-old Throgs Neck Bridge in a state of good repair for decades to come,” said David Moretti, acting president of MTA Bridges and Tunnels.
Moretti said the need for the project arose because the nearly half-century-old road deck is nearing the end of its useful life. More than 140,000 square feet of roadway on 11 spans of the bridge will be replaced during the project, which is expected to have significant effects on traffic flow leaving Queens while construction is underway.
Moretti said, however, that the MTA is working to minimize the potential traffic impacts, particularly during peak periods.
“The project is designed so that our customers will always have three lanes open in each direction during peak traffic periods,” he said. “But in order to accommodate the work, the ramps from the Cross Island Parkway must be closed for a five-week period — first one, then the other.”
Throgs Neck Bridge General Manager Edward Wallace said the Clearview Expressway will be used as an alternate route during these time periods, on which traffic agents will be posted to guide traffic. Wallace said signs will also be posted at critical locations to alert and direct drivers while construction is underway.
The closure of the Cross Island Parkway ramps will begin next spring.
Moretti said the project will also include the cleaning and painting of the structural steel on the Queens approach, a process that once completed will result in the elimination of all lead paint on structural steel structures in Queens.
Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e-mail at Sstirling@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
