Hammering out the Details: A Riveting Affair

Kosciuszko Bridge Re-Design presentation

The Department of Transportation held a presentation, led by Robert Adams, the project manager at the DOT, for the Kosciuszko Bridge re-design at St. Cecilia’s church last Wednesday, offering four bridge designs that the public can vote on: a box grid design, a deck arch, a through arch, and a cable-stayed.

At the presentation, the public was presented with a comprehensive outline of the bridge reconstruction plans and the different designs available. During the comments period, community members voiced their concerns and questions regarding traffic, noise and air pollution, displacement, and aesthetic appeal—though the DOT maintains that all of the issues surrounding the reconstruction will be appropriately handled.

The Kosciuszko bridge is 60 years old, just over a mile long, and accommodates over 160,000 daily drivers. It was and will remain named after Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a Polish general in the American Revolutionary War. The re-designed bridge will eliminate the current bridge’s notoriously steep incline, expand the current six lanes into nine, and also include a real shoulder, a bike lane, and pedestrian lane.

Construction of the bridge, which is expected to cost close to one billion dollars, will begin in 2013 and is expected to be completed in 2017. The new bridge will be built along side the current bridge, which will then be demolished and re-incorporated into the new bridge. The DOT maintains that throughout the re-construction process, no lanes, entrances, or exists will be compromised.

Each of the four designs will cost approximately the same amount of time and money in the grand scheme of building the bridge, and offer the same amount of support and safety. The DOT hopes that the community will review the designs and give their input towards its final look. The new bridge design will include new parks, shoreline restoration, enhanced streetscapes, and possible boat launch areas for kayaks and canoes in Newtown Creek.

According to the DOT, only three homes, all in Queens, will be compromised by the new design, and relocation plans have already been made with the homeowners. In addition, about two dozen businesses in Queens and Brooklyn will need to be relocated. Negotiations are still in process.

“It’s been a very positive. In terms of what people prefer, it’ s a pretty even split between the cable-stay and the through arch,” said Adam Levine, Director of Public Affairs for the New York State DOT. “Some people have asked for the cheapest, quickest option, but others see it as a mark on the skyline and something that can be beautiful.”

To vote on the new designs, email kosciuszko@dot.state.ny.us

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