The new, improved walkway on the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge, which runs over Jamaica Bay and links Broad Channel and the Rockaways, has opened to the public after nearly a year of reconstruction.Adrian Moshe, left, of the MTA, Jonathan Gaska of C.B. 14, right foreground, and MTA staff at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the bridge’s improved walkway. (photo courtesy of the MTA)
Work on the popular pedestrian and cyclist crossing was part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Bridges and Tunnels’ $56.9 million deck rehabilitation project, which is expected to continue through spring 2010.
"We know the walkway provides important access for the community, which is why we provided free daily shuttle bus service during the closure,” said Adrian Moshe, facility engineer of both the Cross Bay and Marine Parkway Gil Hodges Memorial bridges.
To make the journey across the pedestrian path of the 38-year-old bridge more pleasant, Bridges and Tunnels reconstructed its 10-foot-wide sidewalk, paved the walkway, upgraded drainage and installed new lighting, concrete barriers, railing and a fire stand pipe.
The rest of the project, funded through the MTA’s capital plan, is the rehabilitation of the bridge’s deck and ramps, made necessary by three decades of wear and tear in the salt-water environment of Jamaica Bay.
The walkway portion of the project began as soon as El Sol Contracting & Construction Corp. of Maspeth was selected to do the work last summer.
As the rest of the project continues, the agency plans to regularly communicate with local community groups and elected officials, briefing them on every phase. It most recently met with area residents and business owners to discuss plans at a Community Board 14 meeting this summer.
