BY KATHERINE NERI
After less than 2 years of construction, a new flyover highway at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) — an important step in the airport’s $8 billion modernization program — has been completed, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The new overpass gives drivers greater access to the LGA’s terminals from the Grand Central Parkway. The beginning of the flyover can be found at the Grand Central Parkway’s eastbound Exit 7 and will serve as the main access point for travelers heading to the eastern side of LGA where Delta’s gates are.
At the July 31 announcement of the highway’s opening, Cuomo described the project as having had been “extraordinarily difficult” because projects like these are very expensive and it is “difficult to find the resources at a time when the the government is tight.” Nonetheless, the construction was successful.
“This flyover is going to make a dramatic improvement already on the traffic,” Cuomo said. According to AM New York, LGA is ranked as the “21st busiest airport in the country, per the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.”
“This road configuration, as soon as you got off the Grand Central Parkway, made no sense. It was all workarounds from day one… . And this is going to make a difference,” he continued.
The new highway is the first of 26 new planned flyovers and bridges that will take the place of current intersections. Officials said that with these new plans, there will cease to be a need for most of the present traffic signals on interior airport roads.
The LaGuardia Airport modernization project also includes plans for AirTrain to Willets Point that will connect travelers to rail lines into Manhattan – taking 30 minutes or less off their commute – as well as a high-speed ferry, increased parking spaces, and easier navigation of the whole premises.
