Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Van Wyck project taking a really long time
From CBS 2:
The State Department of Transportation is spending nearly $300 million to replace six decaying overpasses and rehab four more, while widening the Van Wyck to improve traffic flow. The state admits one of the projects – going on since 2010 – is now 21 months behind schedule and more than $9 million over budget.
Department of Transportation spokesman Gary Holmes told CBS2 that the reason it’s taking so long is because it’s a complicated project that’s broken into three contracts.
11 comments:
Delays since 2010?
I am 68 years old and have lived in Jackson Heights since I was 13 years old (born in Astoria)....
Over the years, ANYTIME I had to go JFK to pick up or drop off anyone, I automatically added AT LEAST an hour to my travel time, since the Van Wyck was the most direct (LOL) route....
This road has ALWAYS been a disaster; if a mouse farts, all traffic comes to a standstill. Accidents, weather, flat tires, ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING that happens on that roadway creates havoc....
I'll be dead and buried before anyone can exit the Whitestone Expressway, and get all the way to JFK without delays!
The longer it takes the more cost overruns which wind up depositing mega bucks in council members' already deeply filled pockets.
That's show biz! That's politics! And you think that you are being represented by your local,community boards?
I live just off Main St./Union Tnpk exit - This is 6.2 miles to Kennedy. It can take more than an hour to get to JFK. And we are still waiting for our elevator to be built at the subway. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
BQE took over 30 years to be completed.
So what is the rush?
The only way to reduce the traffic on the Van Wyck is to extend the clearview down to the Belt/ JFK airport to provide another north / south artery for traffic. It would be a mega project, but it would be worth it and should be considered for the future of the city.
I started dating a girl who lived in Mill Basin in 1979.
It is now almost 40 years later and it commonly takes over an hour to get from Whitestone via the Van Wyck to the Belt Parkway.
Construction unions have Queens Highways by the balls!
"...the reason it’s taking so long is because it’s a complicated project that’s broken into three contracts."
What they fail to mention is that contracts over a certain amount must be broken up to supposedly prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.
The other issue that no one is willing to speak about, is that with the multi contractor policy, is the fact there is NO General Contractor overseeing and coordinating all of the subcontractors because they are not "subcontractors", but "equal" contractors.
No one is managing the project as a whole, no one is responsible and they just keep adding the change orders, milking the system for all it is worth.
Government at its finest...
Van Wyck will be done in 5 more years. Once this happens then all the poor workmanship that was done will have to be fixed/patched and that will take another 3 years to fix. Good Luck.
I remember how bad that "Exoressway" was back in the '70s. Sadly, nothing has changed. If anything, it's gotten worse.
Many was the sunny and beautiful day I saw last summer---and NOT A SOUL was working on the Van Wyck. The construction sites were absolutely devoid of workers, no work getting done. Then, come fall, they were back, disrupting traffic like crazy. Why were they not working during prime outdoor weather? Why are many sections of the Van Wyck, in the vicinity of Citifield, full of deep potholes and shingled broken asphalt? Why are the lights still burned out around there, for YEARS? Why are many of the Van Wyck exit ramps full of broken asphalt and potholes? Whose brother in law on the utterly corrupt and disgusting city council got the contract for repairing the Van Wyck?
I have rode by there a lot in the past few years to whitestone and back (40 minutes each way!) and I empathize with all drivers on how fucked its been in the last 40 years, especially the rocky terrain it becomes when you reach the flushing meadows sections.
I have come to name that hideous layout at the queens blvd section "Clusterfuck Circle"
But this type of delayed bureaucratic bullshit is expected when you demand any improvements in the dirty southeast of Queens- The lonely planet's leper colony.
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