Months Of Lane Closures Coming To Throgs Neck Bridge, MTA Says

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — Months of lane closures are coming to a bridge connecting northeast Queens and The Bronx, the MTA warned drivers Thursday.

After a winter hiatus, the transit agency is resuming its years-long efforts to upgrade the Throgs Neck Bridge roadway as of Saturday night — a $253 million facelift which necessitates temporarily closing some of the bridge's six lanes for construction until "late spring," the MTA said.

Drivers won't loose lanes of traffic during commute hours, though, the transit agency said, pointing to a moveable barrier, which will adjust the number of lanes available during rush hour.

In order to prevent a traffic backup the barrier will be moved on weekdays to allow for three Bronx-bound lanes during morning commute hours (from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m.) and three Queens-bound lanes in the afternoon (2:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.), according to the agency.

Some of these closures, though, are not intuitive — the three Bronx-bound lanes during morning commute hours, for instance, will be divided to the left and right of the work zone.

And, during the weekend (as of Saturday night) drivers should expect lane closures in both directions, the MTA said.

Since the changes are new, and might be confusing, the transit agency encouraged drivers to pay extra attention to signs.

The Whitestone Bridge, slightly to the west, is an alternative for customers who don't want to deal with the changing traffic patterns while driving between northeast Queens and The Bronx, according to the MTA.

During the Throgs Neck Bridge roadway construction project, workers will replace the bridge's concrete surface (which dates back to when the bridge was built in the late 1950s) with a lighter-weight, stronger, steel deck.

Other bridge updates include painting, structural reinforcement, LED roadway lighting, new signs, new medians and side barriers.

Find out more about the Throgs Neck Bridge roadway replacement project here.