By Harold Egeln
Brooklyn Eagle

BROOKLYN -- Seven aging bridges on a stretch of Brooklyn's Belt Parkway will be replaced with all-new bridges over the next seven years.

The bridges will be replaced over the next seven years, 2009 to 2016, in three phases, said Brian Kieran, chair of Community Board 10's Traffic and Transportation Committee, reporting at last week's board meeting. The board, representing Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, is one of four that are affected.

“Complete reconstruction is needed in order to alleviate the current sub-standard condition of the bridge. All were completed before 1950, and they have outlived their expected life spans,� he said.

Kieran was reporting on a presentation by Andre Celestin, engineer-in-charge from the city Department of Transportation's Bureau of Roadway Bridges. The estimated cost of the three-phased project is $850 million.

The bridges and the dates (with cost) are as follows. Fresh Creek, Rockaway Parkway and Paerdegat Basin Bridges from 2009 to 2014, $400 million; Mill Basin drawbridge and Gerritsen Inlet Bridge from 2010 to 2014, $350 million; and Bay Ridge Avenue (69th Street) and Nostrand Avenue Bridges from August 2012 to May 2016, $100 million.

"Two spans will be constructed ‘off-line’ meaning the older spans shall carry traffic until the new ones are completed to minimize traffic interruption," said Kieran. Traffic will continue to flow with the old bridge intact until a replacement pre-cast bridge is ready.

Those bridges are the Paerdegat Basin Bridge and the Mill Basin drawbridge. The latter is 35 feet above the water, he explained. It will be replaced with a bridge that is not a drawbridge, but is 60 feet above the water, giving boats plenty of room.

The Paerdegat span will be replaced with two bridges, one eastbound and the other westbound. The new twin Paedegat Bridges will each have a bicycle and pedestrian path.

No Traffic Jams on Local Streets, Pledges City

"Some of the bridges will be replaced 'on-line' meaning piece by piece replacement during lane closures," Kieran said. Those spans are the Fresh Creek, Rockaway Parkway, Gerristen Inlet, Bay Ridge Avenue and Nostrand Avenue bridges. “At no point will any parkway traffic be directed onto local streets," he added.

"The project should make the roadway safer and more aesthetically pleasing since it will provide wider lanes, shoulders, and median barriers on the bridges," he said.

The project includes numerous aesthetic components to decrease the roadway's visual and environmental footprint, he said. "Wetlands will be increased, landscaping including tree planting will be provided and a 2.3-acre rubbish-strewn lot by Floyd Bennett Field will be rehabilitated into wetland after the completion of the project."

Project Manager Frank Gallo and Community Liaison Lee Wilson are available to help communities with any problems and questions. Besides Community Board 10; the Gerritsen Inlet and Nostrand Avenue bridges are in Board 15; the Mill Basin, Paedegat and Rockaway Parkway bridges are in Board 18; and Board 5 and 18 share the Fresh Creek Bridge.

Wider Lanes and Fewer Pigeons

The Bay Ridge Avenue bridge will take nearly four years to complete, Kieran said. It is one of the closest spans to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and the Gowanus Expressway.

The Bay Ridge Avenue bridge serves as the entrance to the 69th Street Veterans Memorial Public Pier, where ferry advocates hope to see Manhattan-Brooklyn water taxi service restored after a lapse of several years. It is also at the north end of the Narrows Botanical Garden, a four-block stretch of the city's Shore Park maintained by volunteers.

"The Bay Ridge Avenue Bridge will be widened from 72 feet to 82.5 feet," Kieran said. "It will have shoulder space for disabled vehicles. There shall be no exposed steel parapets. The deck will be constructed of pre-cast concrete members which have no place on the underside for pigeons to roost." The last comment about the pigeons drew a few cheers and claps.

Continuing on the project's details, Kieran said, "The clearance will increase to 14.5 feet, from the present 10 feet, and the current clearance signs will be removed. The new structure will have shoulder spaces and more space for traffic in each lane."

At its general meeting, Board 10 voted in favor of the DOT's project.

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008
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