Huzzah! Henry Hudson Parkway Repaving To Begin On Monday
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – There's good news for the nearly 100,000 drivers who travel the Henry Hudson Parkway commuting to and from Westchester County every day. The rutted, tooth-rattling roadway (portions of which resembled the Ho Chi Minh trail after it was bombed during the Vietnam War), will be completely overhauled beginning on Monday, April 20. While drivers will experience disruptions for several months, those who drive that stretch every day will undoubtedly welcome the highway's reconstruction.
New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Commissioner Joan McDonald say that work will begin Monday on the $4 million project to pave the Henry Hudson Parkway in both directions from Kappock Street in Bronx County to the Westchester County line just north of Van Cortlandt Park. The 3.5-mile-long project is scheduled to be completed in June.
The project calls for milling off the existing asphalt pavement, repairing the underlying concrete, applying new asphalt concrete and striping the roadway. Drainage structures also will be cleaned and repaired which should help to alleviate the frequent flooding after downpours and thunderstorms.
As the project moves along, various sections of the Henry Hudson Parkway will be fully closed in stages. Throughout the project, full nighttime closures will take place from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Intermittent single lane closures during off–peak, daytime hours will also occur.
Work will begin in the northbound direction starting on Monday, April 20th, weather permitting.
Beginning Monday, the northbound Henry Hudson Parkway will be fully closed from Kappock Street to 232nd Street during nighttime hours. During the course of approximately 1 ½ months, the entire northbound roadway will be milled and paved, one section at a time. Once completed, work will begin in the southbound direction, starting at the Westchester County line.
"The Henry Hudson Parkway is a vital transportation corridor in New York City, connecting Manhattan, the Bronx and Westchester County," Commissioner McDonald said. "Under Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's leadership, this paving project will provide a smoother, safer riding surface for the nearly 100,000 motorists who use the Parkway each day."
In a separate, $4.5 million contract already underway, NYSDOT is upgrading the signs on the Henry Hudson Parkway from 125th Street in Manhattan to the Westchester County line. The signs will conform to modern standards for readability and reflectivity and will improve safety on the parkway. NYSDOT says the new signs will also enhance the scenic beauty of this historic parkway by minimizing the use of overhead sign structures. The signage project is slated to be completed by the winter of 2016.
Paving of the Henry Hudson Parkway is part of a $20 million contract, which includes paving the final section of the Staten Island Expressway (I-278) in Richmond County from the Goethals Bridge to Victory Boulevard; the Gowanus Expressway (I-278) in Kings County from 92nd Street to 6th Ave; and the Throgs Neck Expressway (I-678) from Meagher Ave to the Bruckner Expressway in Bronx County. This contract is expected to be completed by the summer of 2017.
Beginning Monday, the northbound Henry Hudson Parkway will be fully closed from Kappock Street to 232nd Street during nighttime hours. During the course of approximately 1 ½ months, the entire northbound roadway will be milled and paved, one section at a time. Once completed, work will begin in the southbound direction, starting at the Westchester County line.
Motorists are reminded that fines are doubled for speeding in a work zone. In accordance with the Work Zone Safety Act of 2005, convictions of two or more speeding violations in a work zone could result in the suspension of an individual's driver's license.
This work is a different project from the milling and repaving that is underway along the northbound section of the West Side Highway/Henry Hudson Parkway between 79th Street and the George Washington bridge. A NYSDOT spokesperson tells CBSNewYork.com that repairs are also scheduled on the southbound Henry Hudson Parkway from the Henry Hudson Bridge south to the GW Bridge.
The construction contractor for the paving project is Restani Construction Corporation of Astoria, New York.