Meanwhile, Over in DUKBO...

After the long cold winter so recently ended, there’s been a number of things which I’ve been making it a point to check up on, one of these is the focus of today’s post – the Kosciuszko Bridge project. The Kosciuszko Bridge spans my beloved Newtown Creek, carrying the Brooklyn Queens Expressway.

With its approach ramps, the 1939 era bridge is 2.1 miles long and considered one of the most dangerous structures in NYS. Governor Cuomo added the truss bridge to the “Fast Track” program and ordered the NYS DOT to replace it. Construction is well underway at this point, not that you’d really notice it from the roadway.

You need to visit DUKBO, Down Under the Kosciuszko Bridge Onramp, to see what’s going on.

More after the jump.

Down on Review Avenue, at the former NYPD tow lot, there’s a bit of demo going on. The crew from Skanska (presumptively, they’re the lead contractor on the project) was busy pushing the dirt around. A youngish guy in dress pants and a hard hat, probably an engineer, was looking at me all askew when I shot this. We had a brief chat, and I reminded him that he’s jaded from seeing this sort of thing everyday.

Up on what I’ve started referring to as “used to be 43rd street” in West Maspeth, a considerable amount of demolition work is underway. There were a line of industrial buildings here, and the company’s located therein have been relocated. When the replacement bridge is built, “used to be 43rd street” is where its going to sit.

This sort of thing has been going on in Brooklyn, on “used to be Cherry Street” in Greenpoint for quite a bit. The Brooklyn side of the project involves the rerouting of the BQE and Meeker Avenue.

Speaking of Brooklyn, the steel forms for the first of the new Kosciuszko Bridge’s pylons has been erected. My understanding is that concrete has already begun to be poured, but you’d want to check in with the project’s managers on that one.

A real sense of finality overcomes me every time that I click the camera shutter with the Kosciuszko Bridge in frame. The new bridge promises to be aesthetically pleasing, but I’m going to miss this old war horse from the era of Robert Moses.

Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman lives in Astoria and blogs at Newtown Pentacle.