Sunday, March 20, 2011

Testing On Newly Rehabilitated Roosevelt Island Bridge Begins Monday, March 21 Thru Mid April - Daily Intermittent Full Closings For Up To 15 minutes, Will Emergency Vehicles Be Stationed On Island During This Time?

Image Of Raised Roosevelt Island Bridge

Be advised that there will be traffic disruptions driving to and from Roosevelt Island via the Roosevelt Island Bridge beginning tomorrow until mid April. According to RIOC:
As a reminder, per the attached notice, the DOT will be performing test openings of the Roosevelt Island Bridge between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., weekdays, from Monday, March 21st to Friday, April 15th.

Sincerely,

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp Advisories Group


The NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) adds:
The New York City Department of Transportation Division of Bridges will begin testing the newly rehabilitated Roosevelt Island Bridge on Monday March 21st at 10:00 a.m. The bridge will be fully closed for up to 15 minutes. All testing will be concluded daily by 2:00 p.m. The testing program is expected to be completed on or before April 15th. Testing requires intermittent closures of the bridge to vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

The work is weather sensitive and inclement weather may cause the work to be rescheduled or delayed. Should this occur, additional notification of the revised schedule will be provided. Variable message boards will inform motorists and pedestrians of the closures. NYPDC Traffic Enforcement Agents will assist with traffic control at Vernon Blvd and 36th Avenue. During the bridge testing, NYPD, NYFD and EMS units will be available to Roosevelt Island residents and visitors by dialing 911.
FOR MORE INFORMATION

Questions regarding the bridge closure may be addressed to Fred Herschkowitz, Community Liaison at 212-839-6307 or fherschkowitz@dot.nyc.gov. You may also call the New York City Government Services and Information Hotline at 311.    Please be prepared to give your name, your borough, and the project number, HBM1117, to be routed to the project management team.
Does the DOT's notice characterizing the Roosevelt Island Bridge as:
 ... the newly rehabilitated Roosevelt Island Bridge...
 mean that the rehabilitation of the Bridge is completed except for testing?

No word yet on whether the DOT's Roosevelt Island Reconstruction $86.5 million project will  include a pedestrian safety barrier for the Queens side of the Bridge as reported on in this earlier post.

Also, with testing being done on the Roosevelt Island Bridge and vehicle access denied during this time, will emergency service vehicles be stationed on Roosevelt Island in case they are needed? I hope RIOC, the DOT or whoever the appropriate authority is will be ready for the possible need of an ambulance, FDNY or NYPD response to Roosevelt Island during the time the Bridge is not passable. The DOT notice states that such service will be available by dialing 911.

3 comments :

Gregor said...

I agree - I hope emergency vehicles such as fire truck and ambulance are parked on RI while the bridge is tested. Maybe the DOT has already thought of this and arranged for them to be here on standby while the bridge is undergoing testing. In case of an emergency (which we all hope will *not* occur of course) 15 minutes delay could be catastrophic.

Anonymous said...

EMS will probably be surely on the island. NYPD? Faaaaaaar fetched thought! They can care less! Let's just hope there isn't a shooting in those 15 minutes.

retired nypd said...

@ 12:23 am, what are you talking about? I have seen 114 pct cars posted out here in the past during bridge raisings. I have even stopped to chat with them.