By Karen Rice
Ruth Linden from Atlantic Beach is not happy that work on the Atlantic Beach Bridge, a New York State project, has been going on for at least four summers and is not close to being finished. She suggested the state consider taking advantage of the recent mild winters. I think it's horrible that every summer we have this traffic, she said. It's very annoying. It should be done by now. If they want to work that's fine but do it in the winter. We just had a very mild winter. This construction really inconveniences the residents.
The construction is lengthy because of problems in the steel supports. It is also taking extremely long because the paint on the bridge is lead-based and must be scraped off and disposed of properly. Once the paint is stripped off, the bridge must be primed immediately or the sea salt will cause the metal to rust, officials said.
According to Charles Maass, engineer in charge of the project, the six-lane bridge usually has two lanes open in each direction and during off-peak hours they may close another lane to prevent the paint from getting on cars. All that is left to paint is the bascule span or the portion of the bridge that opens to allow boats to pass underneath. Painting should be completed by the end of September.
Stefania Widen of Cedarhurst is also annoyed that the Atlantic Beach construction is taking so long. She remembers the construction taking place as far back as 1997. When I came back from Fire Island one summer, in 1997, it was still going on, she said, and then added flatly, it took them three years to build the Empire State Building.
Construction of a massive air cargo facility on Rockaway Boulevard, just outside the Five Towns, is still causing headaches. The construction, located across from the landing strip at JFK Airport, has been going on since the beginning of the year and is expected to continue for about 16 more months.
The facility will be operated by Aris, a large multi-national cargo facility, and will include about three entrances and exits from the property, all leading to the already congested Rockaway Boulevard.
Martin Oliner, a member of the Lawrence Association, has a positive outlook for the end result of the construction project. He said that officials like Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) have been receptive to residents' concerns and several positive improvements have been made to the plans such as wider and longer lanes. Rockaway Turnpike is a bad road to begin with but after the construction is finished traffic should not be worse than it was before construction started, Oliner said. That's what we're hoping forthat it won't be any worse.
In the meantime, traffic caused by the construction is still an aggravation for many.
It's terrible, Theresa Locastro of Atlantic Beach said about the construction on Rockaway Boulevard. They were doing [construction] at least all of May. I stopped going that way. I go through the airport to try and avoid it. They should do something better.
Teddy Rollins of Jamaica, who works near the Five Towns Shopping Center, agreed that there should be an alternative to the traffic-clogged route and provisions should be made for a bypass road.
However, there are still residents like Andy Williams of Brooklyn, who also works near the Five Towns Shopping Center, who believe that traffic is just a part of life that must be accepted without complaint. [Construction is] the penalty you pay for improvement, he said. You have to [tolerate the traffic], there is no choice. It's standard, you can't stop it. We live in a modern age, you have to put up with these things. I have to leave home at 5 a.m. [to get to work], but it doesn't bother me.
Construction on the Mallow Reach Bridge in Hewlett Bay Park, which began in March, is expected to be completed by August. The bridge, which connects Seawane Road to Harbor Road, is completed closed. The beams that hold the bridge up are being replaced, new bridge rails are being added, and the western end is getting paved. This is a small bridge, with one lane in each direction. Without the bridge, residents of Hewlett Bay Park and Hewlett Neck must travel around the water and use East Broadway to enter Hewlett Harbor.
Construction in the Five Towns, which has been concluded, includes a small amount of road work on Doughty Boulevard in Inwood; road work on Cedarhurst Avenue in front of Fruit Paradise, where electric wiring underground needed repairs; and road work on Central Avenue in Cedarhurst, where gas service was restored to nearby stores.
