Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced the second span of the Kosciuszko Bridge will open to traffic before rush hour early Thursday morning, August 29.
The Kosciuszko Bridge, which will be the first new major bridge crossing constructed in New York City since the Verrazzano Bridge in 1964, will be open to the public on Wednesday from noon to 6 p.m. for the community to bike or walk over the new bridge before it opens to traffic on early Thursday morning.
This span of the bridge is opening four years ahead of schedule and on budget. The Governor toured and surveyed construction progress on the bridge on Sunday.
"With the opening of the second span of the new Kosciuszko Bridge on Wednesday, we will once again demonstrate to the nation that it's possible to take on big projects and to get them done on time and on budget," the governor said in a statement.
The Kosciuszko Bridge project will replace the existing 77-year-old bridge with two new state-of-the-art, cable-stayed bridges, connecting Queens and Brooklyn. Starting early Thursday morning, the Queens-bound bridge will carry five lanes of traffic and a separate Brooklyn-bound bridge will carry four lanes, as well as a 20-ft-wide bikeway/walkway with spectacular views of Manhattan. Shoulders have been added to both bridges, where none currently exist. The roadway incline has also been lowered by approximately 35 ft, making it easier for trucks and other large vehicles to maintain consistent speeds on the bridge - helping reduce traffic congestion.
In April 2017, traffic was shifted onto the new Queens-bound bridge and the existing bridge was removed to complete Phase 1 of the project.
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SOURCE: Office of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo
