April 27, 2016 Staff Report
The Queensboro Bridge is slated for a $244 million makeover.
The funding was announced Tuesday as part of the Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2017 Executive Budget. It will cover replacing the Upper Span roadway in both directions, which is due for an upgrade, according to City Hall.
Other structural components of the bridge will also be addressed, and a traffic study is included in the investment.
The Queensboro Bridge is more than 100 years old, opening in 1907. According to the Department of Transportation, its last major rehabilitation was started in the 1990s and ran $300 million.
The reconstruction project is slated for Fiscal Year 2017 and the final design contract has just begun.
Funding will also go towards the Brooklyn Bridge ($28 million) and Manhattan Bridge ($4 million) for repairs and rehabilitation.
The investment announcement comes one month after a proposal to toll the Queensboro Bridge – as well as the other East River Bridges – was formally introduced in Albany. This proposal would also reduce tolls on other major bridges including the RFK/Triborough, in what proponents call a “toll swap” for more fair pricing overall.
The Queensboro would cost $5.54 each way with E-ZPass under this plan, or $8 without, while the RFK/Triborough fare would be reduced by up to 48 percent.
