Brooklyn Bridge rehabilitation gets $25M in federal funds

ByVincent BaronePosted onDecember 11, 2018

The federal government has offered the city $25 million to help rehabilitate portions of the Brooklyn Bridge.

The funding will help pay for a $337 million project beginning in June to make repairs to the iconic bridge’s approaches and towers. This is the first time such work will take place on the bridge’s hallmark Gothic arches, according to the city’s Department of Transportation.

“At 135 years old, our world-renowned and beloved bridge needs a lot of care, including work on her approaches and her soaring, majestic towers,” city DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said in a statement. “Our thanks also go to Mayor de Blasio for his leadership and to New York’s congressional champions for their support of this much-needed funding.”

The city recently spent hundreds of millions of dollars repairing to the bridge, but it secured this new funding via the U.S. DOT’s BUILD grant program for a “major rehabilitation” of the approach arches, which support the vehicle ramps on both the Manhattan and Brooklyn sides of the bridge, according to a news release.

“BUILD transportation grants are major investments in road, rail, transit, and port projects that serve as a down payment on this administration’s commitment to America’s infrastructure,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in a statement.

The bridge, built in 1883, serves more than 100,000 vehicles on an average day, while its promenade, a notoriously cramped attraction, draws 4,000 cyclists and 10,000 pedestrians daily.

It’s unclear what, if any, impact the project would have on cable inspections, which are scheduled to start next year in order to determine the structural feasibility of a wider promenade for bike and pedestrian traffic.