Gov. David Paterson says Kosciuszko 403M tab too rich, but new bridge called urgent

[Harry]

The state has put a new price tag on the first phase of the long-awaited project to replace the Kosciuszko Bridge, but it may face a budget speed bump.

 

The state Department of Transportation released its $25.8 billion, five-year capital program last week, allocating $403.9 million to replace the aging span.

 

Gov. Paterson said the state can't afford it, with lawmakers struggling to close a $3 billion budget gap, but project supporters urged him not to plead poverty on this one.

 

"The state cannot immediately dismiss this plan because of its price tag," said state Sen. Martin Dilan, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee.

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/10/19/2009-10-19_governor_david_paterson_says_kosciuszko_bridge_repair_too_expensive.html#ixzz0UPZ5UKQ9

[lilbluefoxie]

it'll be on Patterson's head if this thing falls into the river, killing people. Best get it replaced already, we cant just abandon our roads and highways.

[metsfan]

Replace it with medium height approaches, and a lift span.

 

- A

[Myrtle Local]

Unfortunately I think this bridge is going to collapse before anything is done about it, that's just my opinion though. They need to get the ball rolling right away

[lilbluefoxie]

Replace it with medium height approaches, and a lift span.

 

- A

 

That could cause a lot of traffic if theres a lot of ship activity, and the BQE is notorious as it is for delays. Ive read they wanted to make it higher

[metsfan]

That could cause a lot of traffic if theres a lot of ship activity, and the BQE is notorious as it is for delays. Ive read they wanted to make it higher

 

The burlington-bristol bridge type design is what i'm thinking...

 

 

The lowest part of the BBB lift span goes higher than the kosciuszko is now. Not only that, but the counterweights block access when the span is fully lifted, keeping cars from going for a swim.

 

- A

[Dan05979]

Theres never not a smooth day going over the Kosciuszko bridge, unless its 3:12 in the morning. always an accident, always traffic that chokes up vandervoort ave or chokes up the 495 heading west. its a disaster most of the time.

 

they should nuke it and start over fresh lol

[lilbluefoxie]

my idea would be a slick, modern looking cable stay bridge with 4 lanes in each direction and shoulder lanes, with plenty of vertical clearance so traffic isnt tied up by boats, people dont like it when the is blocked by boats so why do you think motorists want to wait for boats

 

[Dan05979]

my idea would be a slick, modern looking cable stay bridge with 4 lanes in each direction and shoulder lanes, with plenty of vertical clearance so traffic isnt tied up by boats, people dont like it when the is blocked by boats so why do you think motorists want to wait for boats

 

 

that pic is almost a perfect picture of what the koz bridge should look like

[metsfan]

The channel isnt very busy now at all, but that isn't a reason to block shipping access totally with a fixed span. I dunno bout cable stayed, a truss girder lift bridge would be miles cheaper, though the cable stayed would be nicer to look at! You could do 5 lanes with the middle lane having moveable barriers to make it northbound, southbound, or a shallow shoulder.

 

- A

[St Louis Car 09]

I loved this Bridge since I was younger,but I always questioned the height of this bridge to cross such a small channel.Reason why so many accidents, is because people have their eyes on the beautiful view the bridge gives you;also because the bridge height puts alot of resistance on the vehicles going up and speed up the cars going down.

[Dan05979]

I loved this Bridge since I was younger,but I always questioned the height of this bridge to cross such a small channel.Reason why so many accidents, is because people have their eyes on the beautiful view the bridge gives you;also because the bridge height puts alot of resistance on the vehicles going up and speed up the cars going down.

 

I disagree, the problem is going south you have a heavy merge with the westbound l.i.e traffic and local street traffic from laural hill, and everyone trying to get to the left lane to get on the williamsburg bridge, not being aware that the left and center lane both go into the bridge.

 

northbound you have traffic comming on from vandervoort ave at the ramp on meeker, plus the need to merge onto traffic.

[metsfan]

The bridge has a high clearance because it's not a lift bridge. There are 2 major bridges that are bascule lift bridges, but this one has a fixed main span. The Newtown Creek used to handle quite heavy ship traffic. That traffic has lessened quite a bit since its peak in the mid 20th century, but there is still some activity where the clearance is needed, plus you wouldn't want to build a 80 year bridge blocking off the entire creek "upstream" for that long, you want to remain flexible.

 

I hope, that if the main span does fall, no one is on or near it, because the creek is heavily polluted, with a ~15 foot thick layer of toxic goo at the bottom.

 

It is my personal opinion that the planning to have a major artery over a shipping channel is not only questionable, but short sighted and idiotic. A vertical lift bridge will teach people to use LIRR/(NJT) or amtk etc vs drive from long island if they don't want to wait for a ship to pass.

 

Even the people who say (incorrectly) that the economy is more important than the environment (trains vs cars etc) risk looking like a selfish hypocrite.... is you getting somewhere on time more important than the economy?

 

Take the train if in a hurry, a bus if $ is a concern, replace it with a lift bridge, end of story thank you & goodnight.

 

- A

[Myrtle Local]

Let me sum it up with this bridge....it's a bottleneck for road traffic in both directions....Newtown Creek no longer sees shipping traffic because it is so polluted and does need such a high span. If this bridge falls and it will if it's not replaced and taken down soon, it's going to be a huge disaster to NYC. You won't see me on this bridge or any one in family. Spend sometime underneath this bridge in Maspeth and you'll hear some sounds you wouldn't want to hear from a bridge.

[Dan05979]

Let me sum it up with this bridge....it's a bottleneck for road traffic in both directions....Newtown Creek no longer sees shipping traffic because it is so polluted and does need such a high span. If this bridge falls and it will if it's not replaced and taken down soon, it's going to be a huge disaster to NYC. You won't see me on this bridge or any one in family. Spend sometime underneath this bridge in Maspeth and you'll hear some sounds you wouldn't want to hear from a bridge.

 

I've seen the floor move down and lift up with the truck traffic a couple of times, i couldnt believe it

[CPBO]

Clearly Patterson is a Pinata.....or when he talks it reminds me of a Bobble head........I mean I know the guy is Blind and all .....but I don't think he should be running things into the ground..........one lesson we all learned.....the LT. Gov. is a very important Seat!!

 

And the Bridge should be High on the the projects table.......lives are at stake!!!!

[Y2Julio]

Clearly Patterson is a Pinata.....or when he talks it reminds me of a Bobble head........I mean I know the guy is Blind and all .....but I don't think he should be running things into the ground..........one lesson we all learned.....the LT. Gov. is a very important Seat!!

 

And the Bridge should be High on the the projects table.......lives are at stake!!!!

 

Gov. Patterson is blind to the needs of New Yorkers.

[lilbluefoxie]

The bridge has a high clearance because it's not a lift bridge. There are 2 major bridges that are bascule lift bridges, but this one has a fixed main span. The Newtown Creek used to handle quite heavy ship traffic. That traffic has lessened quite a bit since its peak in the mid 20th century, but there is still some activity where the clearance is needed, plus you wouldn't want to build a 80 year bridge blocking off the entire creek "upstream" for that long, you want to remain flexible.

 

I hope, that if the main span does fall, no one is on or near it, because the creek is heavily polluted, with a ~15 foot thick layer of toxic goo at the bottom.

 

It is my personal opinion that the planning to have a major artery over a shipping channel is not only questionable, but short sighted and idiotic. A vertical lift bridge will teach people to use LIRR/(NJT) or amtk etc vs drive from long island if they don't want to wait for a ship to pass.

 

Even the people who say (incorrectly) that the economy is more important than the environment (trains vs cars etc) risk looking like a selfish hypocrite.... is you getting somewhere on time more important than the economy?

 

Take the train if in a hurry, a bus if $ is a concern, replace it with a lift bridge, end of story thank you & goodnight.

 

- A

 

it would depend on how many boats per hour that pass through it. I know theres other drawbridges on major highways in NYC, the Belt has one and so does the Bruckner Expwy. If its the kind of thing thats going to make traffic on the BQE worse, go for a higher fixed span. I dont see why motorists have to be the ones screwed over constantly because of some bogus environmental adgenda. If the environmentalists dont like cars, let them walk and leave everyone else alone. Transportation should be a choice, and some people, despite having the subways and buses serve much of brooklyn and western queens, like the privacy and convenience of a car.

 

The worst thing they can do is sit on their hands and do nothing, once it falls and theres no replacement, theres going to be a lot of angry motorists cloging the FDR drive and Manhattan streets to get around it.

[Grand Concourse]

Do these people learn nothing from the Mississippi River bridge collapse?

The hell with the cost, just build the replacement now. God knows how long it will take till that replacement is complete.

[metsfan]

it would depend on how many boats per hour that pass through it. I know theres other drawbridges on major highways in NYC, the Belt has one and so does the Bruckner Expwy. If its the kind of thing thats going to make traffic on the BQE worse, go for a higher fixed span. I dont see why motorists have to be the ones screwed over constantly because of some bogus environmental adgenda. If the environmentalists dont like cars, let them walk and leave everyone else alone. Transportation should be a choice, and some people, despite having the subways and buses serve much of brooklyn and western queens, like the privacy and convenience of a car.

 

The worst thing they can do is sit on their hands and do nothing, once it falls and theres no replacement, theres going to be a lot of angry motorists cloging the FDR drive and Manhattan streets to get around it.

 

That's why i was stating a medium height for the roadway in the down/closed position, that way it doesn't have to be opened for small craft, only the big ones. You could even restrict opening during certain hours, since the creek is not very tidal, you wouldn't worry bout time constraints for marine traffic. Several bridges along the east coast have hourly openings that last a few minutes, in the busy summer driving season, plenty of time to get any sized ship through. I really think car/ship traffic wouldn't get in the way of each other as much as some think. There is a bridge not too far from my house that was recently totally removed and rebuilt into a completely different structure from the creekbed up, without affecting traffic that much, an incredible feat. If the DOT can do that here, with just concrete, only taking 3 years, i'm sure something using steel could be built even more quickly.

 

- A

[Dan05979]

Do these people learn nothing from the Mississippi River bridge collapse?

The hell with the cost, just build the replacement now. God knows how long it will take till that replacement is complete.

 

Its funny because right after that happend, they started cracking down on overweight trucks going over certain bridges. I know this because it affected me. but its all bull because it was just an oppourtunity to collect money on overweight fines, and these fines are very steep, I know because i have gotten a few of them. they run into 5 to 10 thousand. but like everything, it died out and infrastructure is still hurting out there.

[BusOperator3319]

 

Its funny because right after that happend, they started cracking down on overweight trucks going over certain bridges. I know this because it affected me. but its all bull because it was just an oppourtunity to collect money on overweight fines, and these fines are very steep, I know because i have gotten a few of them. they run into 5 to 10 thousand. but like everything, it died out and infrastructure is still hurting out there.

Governor Paterson can take a hike since he's been in office we see what a sham of a state Government we have with State Senators doing what they please and besides he's ineffective if tha Media wasn't in peoples Private lives we would still have Spitzer and most likely wouldnt be in tha perdicament we are in now

[lilbluefoxie]

Governor Paterson can take a hike since he's been in office we see what a sham of a state Government we have with State Senators doing what they please and besides he's ineffective if tha Media wasn't in peoples Private lives we would still have Spitzer and most likely wouldnt be in tha perdicament we are in now

 

I dont care how "effective" a public official is, if they are breaking the law, they gotta go.

[BroadwayBuffer]

Governor Paterson can take a hike since he's been in office we see what a sham of a state Government we have with State Senators doing what they please and besides he's ineffective if tha Media wasn't in peoples Private lives we would still have Spitzer and most likely wouldnt be in tha perdicament we are in now

 

IAWTP, the scandal was not good enough reason to oust Eliot Spitzer, and I believe it was revealed by opponents and other personal enemies of his and not randomly discovered. It's the fault of the people of NY State for not demanding a special election be held after the ousting of Gov. Spitzer. Despite the arguments that the State Constitution calls for the Lt. Governor to take the seat, a case could easily have been made that Patterson was nothing more than a crony of the corrupt Spitzer administration and was not fit to be governor. Of course, he was embraced by the people at the time for various reasons and NYers deserve everything they are getting now because of it.

[nel070]

Gov. Patterson is blind to the needs of New Yorkers.

 

amen and should step aside for andrew cuomo