If you rely on the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge to regularly travel to and from the Rockaways, you can expect to experience some extended delays beginning next week.
Work crews will close two of the bridge’s three southbound lanes at all times (except on weekends) to begin repairing the bridge’s joints. The project will start the week of Nov. 28 and will last approximately three weeks.
This means that, for most of the next three weeks, there will only be one lane of Rockaway-bound traffic available on the Cross Bay Bridge, which carries nearly 22,000 vehicles per day, according to the city’s Department of Transportation. The northbound lanes are unaffected.
The bridge is the only span linking southwest Queens with the Rockaway Peninsula. The closest alternate route is the Gil Hodges Marine Parkway Bridge between Brooklyn and the western Rockaways. Beyond that, drivers would need to travel into Nassau County via Rockaway Boulevard, Rockaway Turnpike and the Nassau Expressway to reach Far Rockaway and neighboring communities.
Two limited bus lines, the Q52 and Q53, also cross the Cross Bay Bridge in both directions, so commuters who use these lines should also anticipate some residual delays.
For more information, visit the MTA’s website.
