Politics & Government

'Trial Traffic Pattern' to Alleviate Throgs Neck Bottleneck

The agency makes no promises that the lane will stay open, saying safety is their top priority.

 Commuters from Queens to the Bronx might now have a few extra minutes to grab a drive-through coffee during their morning travels. The MTA Bridges and Tunnels on Tuesday night re-opened the second lane of the Bronx-bound Cross Island Parkway ramp, widening what had been a bottleneck in the approach to the Throgs Neck Bridge.

"We are taking a fresh look at how we can improve traffic flow on the Throgs Neck CIP on bound ramp now that construction work on the Queens approach is winding down and we have more roadway to work with," said MTA Bridges and Tunnels President Jim Ferrara.

The lane had been closed since 2009, after a construction fire, according to State Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside.

Find out what's happening in Bayside-Douglastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I would like to thank MTA Bridges and Tunnels President Jim Ferrara for reacting quickly to alleviate the congestion," said Avella. "The single lane created an enormous amount of congestion not only during the rush hour travel times but at all times throughout the week and weekend,” he added.

The agency makes no promises that the lane will stay open, but Ferrara did say, "Customer safety is our first and foremost concern, as always," adding, "but we are also willing whenever we can to make improvements that will keep traffic moving."

Find out what's happening in Bayside-Douglastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A statement by the agency called  the re-opening a “trial traffic pattern,” also saying the ramp with be restored to two lanes, but the merge point will be relocated several hundred feat closer to the top of the ramp. “The earlier two-lane configuration often resulted in cars on the ramp failing to safely merge, resulting in accidents with trucks traveling in the center lane of the bridge,” the statement said.

The trial traffic configuration is the result of a $100 rehabilitation of the Throgs Neck Bridge. More than 140,000 square feet of roadway decking will be replaced near the Queens side of the bridge. The MTA says the work is nearly completed months ahead of schedule, and within budget. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Bayside-Douglaston