State DOT repairing Gowanus Expressway overpass at 86th Street

February 12, 2018 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

It looks like an ordinary street, but 86th Street between Gatling Place and Dahlgren Place is a bridge over the Gowanus Expressway. Eagle photo by Paula Katinas

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The pedestrian bridge over the Gowanus Expressway on 86th Street in Bay Ridge is undergoing repairs under a project funded by the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT), local officials said.

DOT has already started working on a repair project on the bridge, which is located on 86th Street between Gatlin Place and Dahlgren Place.

The project will include repairs to the bridge deck and bridge railing, as well as replacement of the pedestrian fence.

The work is being done by the state because the Gowanus Expressway is part of Interstate 278.

The preliminary work of the project began on the south side of the bridge on Feb. 6, according to Community Board 10 officials, who said the major portion of the repair work will start in the spring.

The repair project could impact traffic on 86th Street, one of the busiest roadways in Southwest Brooklyn.

The entrance and exit ramps used by motorists to get on to and off of the Gowanus Expressway (I-278) will have to be temporary closed, Board 10 officials said.

In addition, parking will be restricted on the bridge while the work is being done.

“The 86th St. bridge has parking lanes and will lose those parking spaces intermittently throughout the job, impacting the surrounding commercial spaces; most notably, the PC Richard & Sons adjacent to the 86th St. bridge,” Community Board 10 District Manager Josephine Beckmann wrote in an email to local officials.

PC Richard & Sons has a store at 576-580 86th St., across the street from the bridge.

But while the repair project could prove to be disruptive, DOT plans to put several measures in place to mitigate the project’s impact on surrounding neighborhood, Beckmann said.

“The design-build method employed on this project seeks to reduce that overall community impact as much as possible. Additional steps, such as using pre-cast concrete to replace the bridge decks, substantially lowers the overall construction time. The construction methods employed by the department should lead to a timely completion of this vitally important work,” Beckmann predicted.

In other Community Board 10 news, Chairwoman Doris Cruz announced that the board will hold a public hearing to review responses from city agencies to the capital and expense budget priorities for Fiscal Year 2019 that the board issued in October.

The public hearing will take place on budget on Monday, Feb. 26, at the Norwegian Christian Home, 1250 67th St. starting at 7 p.m.

The capital budget deals with long-range construction projects in the community board area including parks, sewers, roadways and other city-owned properties.

The expense budget involves day to day services such as sanitation collections and police precincts.

For more information, call Community Board 10 at 718-745-6827.