Great changes for the Kew Gardens Interchange

Image source: NYDN

The NY Daily News reports on the changes happening at Kew Gardens Interchange, which are slated to be completed by 2016. Improvement to safety and travel through this area is the name of the game, with a price tag of $147 million.

When NYS DOT broke ground in 2010, the then Acting Commissioner Stanley Gee said, “The Kew Gardens Interchange is one of the most tangled knots of congestion in all of New York City, impacting the economy of the city and affecting the quality of life of all Queens residents.” This area is a maze of intersecting major roadways which they hope to untangle – here, the Jackie Robinson Parkway, Grand Central Parkway and Van Wyck Expressway connect with Queens Blvd. and Union Turnpike (GMAP). That’s a lot of roads. According to the State Department of Transportation, 500,000 cars drive through this interchange each day.

Here are some of the goals of the first phase of this project; 39% of the work has been done.

• Three pedestrian plazas on the part of Queens Blvd that stretches above the Van Wyck. It will have have planters, benches and canopies. (GMAP)
• The Van Wyck-Briarwood E/F subway station’s entrance will be redesigned, including a wider staircase and a canopy. (GMAP)
• A half mile of the Van Wyck between Union Turnpike and Hillside Avenue will be reconstructed. (GMAP)
• A quarter mile section of Queens Blvd. that goes over the Van Wyck will be reconstructed. (GMAP)
• The Van Wyck will gain a fourth lane.
• Construction of auxiliary lanes on the Van Wyck at the interchange with the Grand Central, in order to ease the flow of traffic in both directions. (GMAP)

There is a second phase, which they expect to complete by 2017. It includes:

• Reconstructing a northbound section of the Van Wyck. Preliminary work started this year.
• The  two lane ramp that leads drivers on eastbound Union Turnpike and the Jackie Robinson to the northbound Van Wyck will be demolished. A wider ramp will be constructed, having three lanes and shoulders. (GMAP)

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall sympathizes with local residents who have been putting up with the noise for the past couple of years, as well as the drivers who have had to work around the construction. But safety is a big concern for her, and in her words, “I’m glad we’re improving our roadways and not waiting until they collapse.”

Makeover for Queens traffic hub is underway [NYDN]
NYSDOT Breaks Ground on Kew Gardens Interchange Project [NYS DOT]