Transportation
New York City Opens Second Span of Kosciuszko Bridge
City's first bridge since 1964 comes in four years ahead of schedule
Gov. Andrew Cuomo opened the new Kosciuszko Bridge, connecting Brooklyn and Queens over Newtown Creek on I-278, with music and lights on Aug. 28. The cable-stayed span replaces a truss bridge that opened in 1939 and was razed in 2017.
Photo Courtesy of the Office of the Governor of New York
New York City’s first new major bridge crossing since 1964 was feted with typical Big Apple pizzazz, as a light and music show marked the official opening of the second span of the Kosciuszko Bridge on August 28.
Completed on budget and well ahead of the original 2023 completion date, the $318-million, 1.1-mile cable-stayed bridge joins a parallel structure completed in 2017 to replace a now-demolished pre-World War II bridge between Brooklyn and Queens. The new span comprises nine traffic lanes, wider shoulders and a pedestrian bike/path. A new seven-acre park is planned for the area beneath the bridge’s Brooklyn approach.
While the $555-million first phase was completed as a design-build project, the New York State Dept. of Transportation used design-bid-build for the second span. Granite Construction led the construction team, with WSP providing final design services.
Speaking at the bridge’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) credited “the 11,000 women and men who worked day and night, Saturday and Sunday to bring this project in four years ahead of schedule.”
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