Three-Month Commitment To Improve Underpasses
A series of unsanitary underpasses in Maspeth will be Included in new Department Of Traffic (DOT) bridge washing contract authorized last week.
After pressure from City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) has committed to maintaining the underpasses below the Long Island Expressway at 74th and 80th streets in Maspeth. The underpasses, which are marred by pigeon nesting and excrement, are included in Bridge Washing Contract XM13.02, D262466, which was approved last Thursday, May 22.
Under the contract, the underpasses will be washed every three months.
“These underpasses are used by pedestrians going everywhere from P.S. 58 and Maspeth High School, to Elmhurst Park and the shops on Grand Avenue,” said Crowley. “This chronic pigeon nesting is a serious public health concern, and I am glad to see DOT taking the appropriate steps.”
The bridge washing contract was originally let in February 2014, but there was only one bidder, so DOT decided to re-let the contract.
News of the new contract came in response to a letter sent by Crowley to DOT in August 2013, requesting that DOT take additional steps to address sanitation at the underpasses. The first scheduled cleaning under the new contract will happen this July.
In 2011, Council Member Crowley also worked with DOT to install bird spikes to deter pigeons from the underpasses.
In addition to more frequent cleaning, DOT is strongly encouraging local residents to “discontinue the practice of feeding” the pigeons-which DOT calls a “very effective measure in reducing the number of pigeons under the bridges.”
