Monday, August 23, 2010

Untangling the mess that is the Van Wyck


From the Daily News:

STATE TRANSPORTATION officials yesterday unveiled the first phase of an ambitious plan to reconstruct the traffic-clogged Kew Gardens Interchange.

The interchange is a tangled mass of roadways that includes the Van Wyck Expressway, Grand Central Parkway, Jackie Robinson Parkway, Queens Blvd. and Union Turnpike.

More than 500,000 vehicles travel on those roads every day, according to state officials.

The first phase of the revamp, slated to start in the coming weeks, targets the perpetually bottle-necked Van Wyck Expressway. It's expected to cost $148 million and take about five years to complete.

Auxiliary lanes will be added to the Van Wyck in an effort to ease traffic flow in the section between Union Turnpike and Hillside Ave., Gee said.

"We will also be replacing a number of bridges," he said. "The infrastructure is aging."

Gee joined Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and a group of elected officials yesterday for a groundbreaking ceremony on Queens Blvd. near the entrance to the Van Wyck Expressway.

The crowd also included several construction workers to highlight the 200-plus jobs the project will create.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah,5 years,right.

Anonymous said...

We will also be replacing a number of bridges," he said. "The infrastructure is aging."

5 years to complete this initial leg - sounds like Obama make-work that will bottle-neck this section even worse than ever. It no wonder everyone avoids flying using JFK.

Anonymous said...

5 years of work? Sounds like a stable job for construction workers, and more traffic headaches for the rest of us.

Anonymous said...

5 years to complete this initial leg - sounds like Obama make-work
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That right - all public spending = socialistic boondoggle. Let it rot, baby, rot!

Anonymous said...

5 years to complete this initial leg -

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Yes, 5 years.

They could do the whole thing in 18 months, but everyone would shit their pants because they would have had to close the entire highway to do so.

Its like trying to build a boat when you are already out on the lake.

Anonymous said...

Inez is so cute:D

Anonymous said...

Inez is so f-ckable:D
I can imagine she working as a stripper at night because she has that aura.