Skip to main content

Making the Connection: A New Ramp for Manhattan's Upper East Side

Image
By

In Manhattan’s Upper East Side, a new flyover ramp is creating a critical new connection for New York City drivers and providing much-needed redundancy for an aging transportation network. The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, built in 1936 as the “Triborough Bridge” and renamed in 2008 in honor of the late brother of 35th President John F. Kennedy, has connected the boroughs of the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens as one of the city’s most vital pieces of transportation infrastructure. Until recently however, a noticeable piece of the puzzle was missing at the Manhattan end of the bridge – the lack of a direct connection to the northbound side of the Harlem River Drive highway, which serves to connect this area of Manhattan with the outbound side of the George Washington Bridge. Construction of this “missing” ramp movement was finally pursued (after more than 60 years of delay) in order to provide motorists originating from northwest Queens with an alternate, redundant path to the GW Bridge while also improving traffic circulation on the local street grid in East Harlem.


The Manhattan leg of the RFK Bridge features this vertical lift span over the Harlem River. The design of its lift towers intentionally mimics the appearance of the nearby George Washington Bridge.

For this project, cooperation between neighboring client agencies was essential for contract success. The RFK Bridge and its approach ramps fall under the jurisdiction of the Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority (TBTA, an affiliate agency of the broader Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or MTA), however the neighboring/underlying Harlem River Drive highway lies under the domain of NYSDOT, who had already begun a contract of their own to rehab the elevated section of the Drive north of the RFK Bridge approach. Under an agreement reached between TBTA & DOT officials, the scope and design of the Harlem River Drive rehab project incorporated the then-hypothetical ramp connection from the Manhattan-bound RFK lanes and the structures built were made modifiable in order to accommodate potential future construction additions.

Opened to traffic on November 23, 2020, the ramp itself is approx. 1,400 ft long, is supported by 17 vertical column piers, and stands at a max height of 50 ft above ground level. The project was built under a $48 million contract by Judlau Contracting and was funded under the MTA’s 2015-2019 Capital Plan. Other constraints that had to be taken in to account included the neighboring Harlem River and the Willis Avenue Bridge, a major artery for Bronx-bound traffic on the Upper East Side that itself had been replaced less than 10 years prior. All of the obstacles mentioned led to the creation of a snake-like path for this direct-connect flyover that will manage to improve travel times while also making good use of whatever available real estate there is.


The above photos detail a trip along the Manhattan-bound lanes of the RFK Bridge, followed by the new flyover ramp to the Harlem River Drive

The Harlem River Drive direct-connect flyover is also worth discussing due to the type of contract that saw its design & construction, a process known as “design-build”. Under a traditional project development timeline, a client & design firm will both agree on a proposed design for a project that is then bid and awarded for construction by a separate contractor. The “design-build” contract concept takes the design & construction phases and combines them, meaning that a single firm or joint venture inherits responsibility of both the design and construction of a project and there is significant overlap between these phases in the overall project timeline. While this method is intended to streamline and shorten the timeline for large-scale project delivery, it does also have the disadvantage of increased uncertainty when it comes to final contract pricing and scheduling. The design-build phenomenon is a relatively new one and it became a reality in New York State in 2011 when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation that permitted the practice on projects state-wide. His immediate goal in doing so was to provide a channel to help fast-track the then-proposed replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge north of town, the first design-build contract in the State’s history, but that’s another story for another time…

Opening Day Press Release from the Governor's Office



Labels

Labels:
Location: New York, NY, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Former US Route 50 and the Pioneer Route Lincoln Highway on Johnson's Pass Road

By
Johnson's Pass Road is one of the oldest highway corridors in California.  Johnson's Pass was part of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road as it was completed during 1856 over the Sierra Nevada.  The pass would later be incorporated into the Pioneer Branch of the Lincoln Highway in 1913 and US Route 50 in 1926.  Johnson's Pass Road would be bypassed by a new alignment of US Route 50 over Echo Summit in 1938.  A replacement of the Meyers Grade east of Johnson's Pass would be opened to traffic in 1947.   Johnson's Pass Road remains accessible to traffic and is still signed by the Lincoln Highway Association.  Pictured as the blog cover is the view from the top of Johnson's Pass Road overlooking modern US Route 50 and Lake Tahoe.   Part 1; the history of Johnson's Pass Much of the history of what become the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road is discussed in the  September 1950 California Highways & Public Works  during its Centennial Edition.  The or...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former US Route 50 and the South Lincoln Highway from Folsom east to Placerville

By
The corridor of Folsom of Sacramento County east to Placerville of El Dorado County has been a long established corridor of overland travel dating back to the California Gold Rush.  The Folsom-Placerville corridor was once part of the path of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road which became the first California State Highway and later the South Lincoln Highway.  In time the South Lincoln Highway's surface alignment was inherited by US Route 50.  The Folsom-Placerville corridor also includes the communities of; Clarksville, Shingle Springs and El Dorado. Part 1; the history of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road, South Lincoln Highway and US Route 50 through Folsom-Placerville Folsom is located on the American River/Lake Natoma of eastern Sacramento County.  That lands now occupied by the City of Folsom were part of Rancho Rio de los Americanos prior to the finding of gold at Sutter's Mill during 1848.  During the California Gold Rush the lands of Rancho Rio de los Americanos were p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old NC 10 - The Central Highway: Old Fort to Black Mountain through the Royal Gorge

By
A unique way of tracing the remnants of the Central Highway is through the mountainous terrain of Eastern Buncombe and Western McDowell Counties.  From the east on US 70, you reach the base of Blue Ridge Mountains at the town of Old Fort.  Old Fort is a tiny rail town that the old Central Highway and now US 70 goes through.  The Central Highway can be followed via a right onto Mill Creek Road from US 70.  Follow the highway as it takes you closer to the mountains.  When Mill Creek Road bears right to head towards Andrews Geyser stay straight until the road ends at a gate.  The nearby Piney Grove Church can be used for parking.  At this point, the old Central Highway began a 3.5 mile climb of the mountain to Swannanoa Gap.  NC 10 and later US 70 travelers followed this road for over 30 years until a new and modern four lane US 70 was built to the south.  This same four lane road would eventually become Interstate 40.    The Centra...
Post a Comment
Read more