$60 million roadwork project at JFK

Officials broke ground last week on a $60 million project to ease travel for motorists and goods in to and out of John F. Kennedy Airport.
The full 3.5-mile-long stretch of the Nassau Expressway, or State Route 878, between Cross Bay Boulevard and Farmers Boulevard will be rehabilitated. Repairs will also be made along the 2.5-mile section of Rockaway Boulevard between Farmers Boulevard and the Nassau County line and to ramps connecting the Nassau Expressway with the Van Wyck and JFK Expressways.
The Nassau Expressway is a vital link in the transportation network of southeastern Queens, serving as a connector highway for passenger and commercial traffic between JFK Airport and the Van Wyck and JFK expressways and the Belt Parkway.
“I am very pleased that this vital corridor into JFK will be rehabilitated and improved to better serve the people of my district and Queens County and provide better access for both commercial and passenger traffic,” said Senator Serphin Maltese.
Included in the repair work are improvements to seven bridges on the western end of the project.
Three bridges — Nassau Expressway over the Van Wyck Expressway, Lefferts Boulevard and 134th Street — will receive complete superstructure replacement. Two others, Belt Parkway over Nassau Expressway and Nassau Expressway over South Conduit Avenue, will undergo replacement of the concrete pavement. The JFK Expressway ramp over the Nassau Expressway ramp and the Nassau Expressway bridge over the Belt Parkway will receive repairs to the bridge pavement and will be painted to protect against weather deterioration. All seven bridges were constructed in the late 1960s, and these repairs are expected to extend their service lives by an additional 30 years.
Work on Rockaway Boulevard includes replacing temporary pothole repairs with permanent, full-depth pavement and worn asphalt with prefabricated concrete slabs. Nassau Expressway will be completely repaved. These improvements are expected to extend the service lives of the roads by an additional 20 years.
Construction is being staged to allow at least two travel lanes in each direction on Nassau Expressway and Rockaway Boulevard at all times, with occasional weekend ramp closures.
“Nassau Expressway serves the thriving air-cargo business along the airport periphery and is a major arterial providing access to the Rockaways and the Five Towns in Nassau County,” noted New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Commissioner Astrid C. Glynn.
Work is expected to be completed in December 2010. Design services for the project were provided by Gannett Fleming Inc. of New York, NY, and the contractor is Tully Construction Company Inc. of Flushing.