Vice President Joe Biden was in town to kick off the beginning of the big Brooklyn Bridge rehabilitation project. According to Mayor Bloomberg's office, it's "a $508 million project - supported by $30 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds - that will bring the nationally and locally landmarked bridge into a state of good repair and improve traffic flow. The project starts the four-year process to replace bridge decks on the ramp and approach structures, expand the numbers of lanes on ramps and repaint of all the bridge’s steel components."
Bloomberg said, "Thanks to stimulus funding and a major investment by the City, we’re about to begin more than a half billion dollars worth of improvements to the City’s most famous bridge. The work will bring the bridge into a state of good repair, improve traffic flow and create needed construction jobs." Of course, some residents who use the bridge are worried about impending closures:
The majority of the work on the Brooklyn Bridge will be performed at night, requiring nighttime lane closures on the bridge’s Manhattan-bound lanes. However, for approximately 24 weekends, full closures of the span’s Manhattan-bound lanes will be required throughout the weekend beginning at 12:01 AM on Saturday night and re-opening at 5:00 AM on Monday. Brooklyn-bound traffic will be maintained during these nights and weekend closures. Traffic is expected to use the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges for alternate access to Manhattan, with some traffic moving to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. There will be no weekend closures during special events or during the holiday construction embargo. A schedule will be posted as the dates are determined.
More details here.
