Amid Major BQE Construction, Airport Exit Ramp To Close

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Getting to La Guardia Airport for early morning flights is going to be a bit more complicated next week, the New York State Department of Transportation is warning drivers.

The ramp from the eastbound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to eastbound Grand Central Parkway — which is commonly used to access La Guardia Airport — will close daily from midnight to 5:00 a.m. starting Aug. 31 through Sep. 4, weather permitting, the transportation agency said in a news release.

The ramp should reopen as usual at 5:00 a.m. on Sep. 4, the NYSDOT said.

Drivers can instead take Exit 5, and follow the signed detour, to get to the Grand Central Parkway during these closures.

The closure is part of a $14.3-million project to rehabilitate the Astoria Boulevard Bridge, which runs directly over the ramp from the eastbound BQE to the eastbound Grand Central Parkway.

Construction on the project — which will include adding a new roadway, steel beams, and upgraded lighting elements to the boulevard — kicked off last December, and is expected to be completed in spring of 2022, according tot he NYSDOT.

The ramp closure coincides with major construction on the BQE, which will reduce lanes the number of open lanes on the highway in both directions from Atlantic Avenue to the Brooklyn Bridge, in order to start repairs on the crumbling roadway.

Unlike the infamously decaying BQE, the NYSDOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said that the construction on the Astoria Boulevard Bridge is part of the agency's "ongoing commitment to restore aging infrastructure and build it back better than before, creating a more resilient transportation network that promotes growth and improves quality of life."

For more travel information you can call 511, visit the 511 website or follow NYSDOT on Twitter or Facebook.