STONE HARBOR – County Commissioner Will Morey and County Engineer Robert Church came to the Tuesday, Oct. 3, meeting of the Stone Harbor Council to brief borough officials on planned county bridge and road projects.
Three county projects were discussed: The replacement of the movable span on the 96th Street bridge, the reconstruction of the roadway on Third Avenue from 80th Street to 99th Street, and the reworking of the intersection crossing system at 96th Street and Third Avenue to provide for better pedestrian safety.
County Bridge Work
The 96th Street bridge is a main thoroughfare into and out of the borough and crosses a heavily used navigation channel. The bridge is also considered historic, adding additional regulatory layers to the project.
A goal of the project, Church explained, is to maintain the same level of navigation clearance while adding cycling and pedestrian options. He said the age of the bridge necessitated replacement rather than rehabilitation, since the old span has significant maintenance issues because parts are no longer available and would have to be fabricated.
The engineer said that plans call for raising the entry and exit points of the bridge by 12 to 16 inches, which will be accommodated by tapering the approach and exit ramps. This should help deal with some existing flooding issues and later allow the county to raise the roadways to and from the bridge, he said.
The tentative schedule calls for completing the permit phase of the project by the end of 2024, advertising for construction by April 2025, initiating construction by September 2025, and completion of the work by May 2028.
During construction there will be three periods when traffic will have to be detoured to enter and leave the island through Avalon. There will be two 30-day periods and one 100-day period. A temporary span will be used to accommodate summer traffic, except for the three detour periods.
Church said there would be a public information session on the bridge project as soon as designs are completed.
Third Avenue Reconstruction
The Third Avenue road reconstruction project will move in phases to minimize impacts on summer traffic. Currently the borough is moving along the same route with water and sewer infrastructure replacement projects, so that when the county follows with its road reconstruction, the newly paved road will have also had infrastructure rehabilitation completed.
Church said no parking would be lost. The county project is expected to be completed by May 2025.
Third Avenue and 96th Street Intersection
The county has been developing options for improving pedestrian safety at the 96th Street intersection with Third Avenue. Stone Harbor Councilwoman Jennifer Gensemer said the intersection saw another pedestrian accident this summer. The council has already indicated its preference for a pedestrian “scramble” at the intersection.
A scramble at an intersection is when signals stop all traffic and allow pedestrians to cross from all corners simultaneously. The major drawback is the queuing of traffic, especially at busy intersections during the summer.
Church said he wanted to review the scramble options with borough administrator Manny Parada and then present them to the council at a future meeting.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
