Say Span’s Replacement Stalled & Overdue
Drivers in Maspeth and East Williamsburg who planned to use the Grand Street Bridge over the Newtown Creek last Friday night, Mar. 15, were forced to find a detour after the span was closed for last-minute repairs.
According to the city Department of Transportation (DOT), the twolane span which connects Grand Avenue in Queens and Grand Street in Brooklyn was shut down for several hours after 8 p.m. last Friday in order for crews to repair a roadway plate. The bridge was reopened once the repairs were completed.
Over the last year, the green steel swing-span bridge (which turns at a 90-degree angle to allow ships to pass through) was shut down by the DOT on several occasions-generally Saturdays from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m.-in order to maintain the crossing, which was opened in 1903.
Among the previous repairs made, as listed in DOT advisories issued prior to scheduled closings last year, include fixing the deck gratings, roadway lighting and movable parts. The DOT considers the bridge to be “structurally sound.”
For years, Community Board 5 and business advocates have called for the replacement of the span, which has a roadway so narrow (53.15 feet wide) that it makes it nearly impossible for two large trucks or buses heading in opposite directions to pass through simultaneously.
In fact, the bridge’s roadbed is more narrow than both Grand Street and Grand Avenue, which measure 56.10 feet wide each.
According to records, the DOT is currently in the “preliminary design” phase for the project, which was estimated as recently as 2008 to cost $66 million. However, the proposed work has been delayed until the city’s 2020 fiscal year “at least,” according to Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano.
The project has reportedly been delayed several times due to city budget constraints.
Board 5 Chairperson Vincent Arcuri told the Times Newsweekly in a phone interview the project should start much sooner, calling the 2020 estimate “outrageous.” He stated the board tried to convince the DOT to start the project before the reconstruction of the Kosciuszko Bridge, which is on track to begin this fall.
“When that project starts, they’re still going to be pushing this project off,” Arcuri said, observing that it seemed Board 5 is the only group in city government to be calling for the Grand Street Bridge replacement sooner rather than later.
“It is not sound mechanically,” the board chairperson added, going on to note that the bridge “affects business, it affects the growth of our community. We’ve got a lot of industry on the creek, and with the bus depot [on Grand Avenue in Maspeth], it has a major effect and it needs to be done.”
The DOT presented a plan to Board 5’s Transportation and Public Transit Committees in 2002 calling for the swing-span bridge to be replaced with a fixed crossing. This idea, however, drew protests from the U.S. Coast Guard, local businesses and board members, since several businesses continue to be served by barges traveling through the creek.
“They finally agreed to that, put it into design and now, it’s nowhere in funding,” Arcuri added. “That’s our problem.”
