Steinway Bridge 2-Way Traffic Resumes In October
BY LINDA J. WILSON

Gazette photo Two-way traffic on the Steinway Street Bridge will resume in October.

Two-way traffic on the Steinway Street Bridge will resume in October, Peter Goslett, community affairs director for the Queens Division of the city Department of Transportation told the Community Board 1 district cabinet last Thursday. Work on the bridge is expected to be completed in October 2007.

The much-awaited news concerning the bridge, plans for the renovation of which were first announced in November 2000, and construction delays on which have caused much consternation among local merchants and area residents, was overshadowed by an announcement from representatives of the state Department of Transportation and Daniel Frankfurt, P.C. Engineers and Architects that the interchange of the Grand Central Parkway with the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway is slated to undergo reconstruction and receive safety improvements. The project, which will provide high-speed connection ramps, improve safety conditions, eliminate substandard features and improve the service roads of both these limited-access highways, will start when designs are approved in early 2007. Final design approval is expected in late 2007 and early 2008 and construction will take approximately three years, from 2009 to 2012. "I'm glad Lucille [Hartmann, Board 1 assistant district manager] and I will be retired by then," Board 1 District Manger George Delis commented. The contractors normally do not work weekends, but Delis said that he would prefer to see the project expedited, so if weekend working hours are feasible at any point, work will be implemented on weekends.

The project will involve the stretch of the Grand Central Parkway between 41st and 49th Streets and the stretch of Astoria Boulevard North that feeds into the northbound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway at 49th Street and the southbound stretch of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that feeds into the eastbound Grand Central Parkway. The westbound Grand Central Parkway has substandard horizontal and vertical sight distances, as does the eastbound Grand Central Parkway, which in addition has substandard horizontal clearance. Ramps leading on and off the two highways also have substandard horizontal sight distances and clearances and the ramp leading from the eastbound Grand Central Parkway to the southbound BQE also has inadequate road shoulder width. The stretch of Astoria Boulevard South that bridges the BQE also has substandard horizontal and vertical sight distances. The proposed realignments and alterations to the existing roadways would alleviate these problems and lower the accident rate, which is among the highest in New York state. It was noted that the stretch of the Grand Central Parkway leading into Hoyt Avenue is considered the worst intersection in the United States; sadly, this intersection is not part of the project.

Dan Miner, Long Island City Business Development Corporation executive director, noted that there are some 14 industrial business zones in the city and eight in-place industrial parks. His organization is seeking to make the north end of Steinway Street another industrial business zone and is surveying businesses in the area to determine the prevailing attitude toward this possibility.

Miner also noted that the Long Island City Business Improvement District is approaching the anniversary of its first year of existence. He invited the cabinet and others present to attend the LICBID's first annual meeting June 27 at Citibank, One Court Square, at 8 a.m. on June 27. Robert Walsh, commissioner of the city Department of Small Business Services, is scheduled to be the keynote speaker.

Addressing a matter which has roused great concern among area residents recently, Dimitri Poulos of the city Department of Environmental Protection told the cabinet that the malodorous emanations from the Bowery Bay sewage treatment plant on Berrian Boulevard should have abated by the date of the meeting. Poulos explained that the solid waste sludge that is extracted at the plant had to be heated to 95 degrees Fahrenheit in order to dispel any odors. A pump at the Bowery Bay plant had failed and the sludge was heated to only 90 degrees, thus allowing it to give off odors. The problem now appears to have been solved. "We've had no complaint for the previous week," he said.

David Bentham of the city Department of Parks and Recreation told the cabinet that the Astoria Park swimming pool, which opened in 1936, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is slated to attend ceremonies heralding the anniversary at the pool on June 29 at 10 a.m. It was noted that on the same day the Central Astoria Local Development Coalition (CALDC) Independence Day celebration in Astoria Park will begin at 7:30 p.m. with a concert of rock 'n' roll classics by the band Risky Business, followed by a fireworks display over the East River. The concert, which will be held on the Astoria Park lawn between Shore Boulevard, 19th Street, the Hell Gate Bridge and the Astoria Pool, is the kickoff event to the 2006 CALDC Waterfront Concert Series, to be held on subsequent Thursday evenings through August 10. Admission is free and attendees should bring a blanket or lawn chair to sit on.

114th Police Precinct Community Affairs Officer Cesar Capunay reminded the cabinet that Police Department policy is to crack down on illegal fireworks and requested the cabinet's and the public's help. There is a $1,000 reward for anyone providing information that leads to the arrest of anyone selling or using illegal fireworks-a category in which all pyrotechnic devices except the CALDC, Macy's Fourth of July and other officially sanctioned fireworks displays are considered by law enforcement authorities to belong.