Work is progressing on the Waterbury Avenue pedestrian bridge being reconstructed by the NYS Department of Transportation. Much of the railing and fencing is now in place.
New railing that is the same green color as the rest of the footbridge’s was installed by work crews beginning on Tuesday, August 24. The state DOT affirmed its commitment to reopening the bridge before the start of the school year. Some students from P.S. 14 use the bridge to get to and from the school.
“We are on schedule and look forward to opening the bridge in time for school to start so that the students can begin using it again.” said Adam Levine, state DOT spokesman.
Work crews are expected to put the final touches on the bridge between now and the first day of school, which for public school students is Wednesday, September 8. This includes installing a chain-link fence along the sides of the bridge’s walkway, making it uniform with the rest of the span.
Andrew Chirico, a board member at the Waterbury-LaSalle Community Association, has been following the construction and is pleased to see it progressing.
“I saw that the railing of the footbridge is being installed, and just from my observations, the work appears to be moving forward nicely,” Chirico said.
The portion of the footbridge over the southbound lanes of the Bruckner Expressway was destroyed when a truck plowed into it August 8, 2008. No one was on the bridge at the time of the accident. The state DOT put a temporary bridge in place before the start of the 2008-09 school year at the urging of Senator Jeff Klein, Assemblyman Michael Benedetto, and Councilman Jimmy Vacca.
