NYCDOT - Williamsburg Bridge

New York City Department of Transportation

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Bridges
Williamsburg Bridge

Rebuilding The Bridge
Contract #8
Traffic Patterns
The 90's
History
Staying Informed

Rebuilding the Bridge

During the 1990's, the DOT invested more than $600 million in the Williamsburg Bridge. In 1991, the NYCDOT began a major rehabilitation of the Williamsburg Bridge. The program was designed to undo the effects of age, weather, increased traffic volumes and deferred maintenance and prepare the bridge for another 100 years of service to the City of New York.

During those years, previous contracts have:

rehabilitated the main cables;
reconstructed the south roadways;
reconstructed the BMT Transit Structure between the Manhattan and Brooklyn approaches;
reconstructed the North roadways.

Now that the NYCDOT has completed work on Contract #7: Reconstruction of the North Roadways on August 15, 2003, all of the bridges supports and roadways, walkways and subway tracks have been completely rebuilt. For the City of New York and the many users who drive, walk or ride across the bridge every day, a major component of the New York City infrastructure has been preserved for future generations.

Our goal, as always, is to minimize the impact on the traveling public and local community by expediting the project. Contract milestone dates linked to a package of financial incentives/disincentives will either reward or penalize the contractor, depending on whether they meet or exceed the milestone dates. This incentive/disincentive clause has worked successfully in previous contracts. In 1997, the South Outer Roadways were reconstructed and reopened nine months ahead of schedule and in 1999, early completion of the BMT Transit Structure allowed subway service across the bridge to be restored one month ahead of schedule. In 2001, the North Outer Roadway was reconstructed and reopened for traffic 50 days ahead of schedule on December 10. On June 10, 2002 work on the North Inner Roadway was completed and reopened for traffic, 50 days ahead of schedule.

Williamsburg Bridge Miscellaneous Rehabilitation of the Main Bridge

Contract #8

The work on Contract #8 was started on March 3, 2003. The project is scheduled to finish on May 31, 2010. This $173 million project will see the rehabilitation of the tower bearings, the truss system, the steel structure of all eight towers, and the north comfort station houses, the replacement or adjustment of the cable suspenders, the installation of maintenance travelers (inspection platforms) under the main span, as well as painting of the stiffening trusses. Architectural work will include the restoration of decorative lights and the Brooklyn granite stone monument. Work inside the anchorage houses on both the Manhattan and Brooklyn sides will include the construction of new stairs, a hoisting system, ventilation and lighting, and oiling platforms. The project will also include the installation of an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS).

The work of painting the stiffening trusses on the South and North side began first. The painting of the South trusses (Stage 1A) started on June 1, 2003 and was completed on September 6, 2003. The painting of the North trusses (Stage 1B) started on September 6, 2003 and was completed on November 25, 2003.

Current Traffic Patterns

Lane Changes on Bridge

With the reopening of the lower roadway of the Manhattan Bridge on Monday October 1, 2007 the following traffic patterns are in effect on the Williamsburg Bridge;

Weekdays - 5:00 am Monday - 10:00 pm Friday
Manhattan-bound
5:00 am - 10:00 am - Maintain 4 lanes for traffic
10:00 am - 3:00 pm - Maintain 3 lanes for traffic
3:00 pm - 10:00 pm- Maintain 4 lanes for traffic
10:00 pm - 5:00 am - Maintain 2 lanes for traffic

Brooklyn-bound
5:00 am - 10:00 am - Maintain 2 lanes for traffic
10:00 am - 3:00 pm - Maintain 2 lanes for traffic
3:00 pm - 10:00 pm - Maintain 4 lanes for traffic
10:00 pm - 5:00 am - Maintain 2 lanes for traffic

Weekends - 10:00 pm Friday - 5:00 am Monday:
Manhattan-bound (Friday/Saturday/Sunday)
10:00 pm - 7:00 am - Maintain 2 lanes for traffic
7:00 am - 3:00 pm - Maintain 4 lanes for traffic
3:00 pm - 10:00 pm - Maintain 3 lanes for traffic

Manhattan-bound (Sunday/Monday)
10:00 pm Sunday - 5:00 am Monday - Maintain 2 lanes for traffic

Brooklyn-bound (Friday/Saturday/Sunday)
10:00 pm - 7:00 am Maintain 2 lanes for traffic
7:00 am - 3:00 pm - Maintain 2 lanes for traffic
3:00 pm - 10:00 pm Maintain 3 lanes for traffic

Brooklyn-bound (Sunday/Monday)
10:00 pm Sunday - 5:00 am Monday - Maintain 2 lanes for traffic

Local Street Traffic Patterns

Once the South Roadways were closed for reconstruction in 1996, several local streets in Manhattan were reversed in order to help improve traffic flow in and around Delancey Street. The following reversals will remain in effect for the duration of the Williamsburg Bridge Reconstruction Program:
Broome Street: one-way westbound between Norfolk and Clinton Streets

Both Clinton and Suffolk Streets were returned to their original direction, northbound and southbound respectively on June 28, 2002.

Pedestrian Access

Photo Williamsburg bridge

Beginning November 19, 2007 both the north and south footwalks are fully open and available for use. Please note that although both footwalks will be open there will be times when one or the other will be partially or fully closed for short periods, to facilitate construction and maintenance activity.

Traffic Mitigation Measures

Due to ongoing lane closures on the bridge, the NYCDOT has implemented traffic mitigation measures to help commuters in their daily commute. These include:

Installing Variable Message Signs on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the Long Island Expressway, the FDR Drive and on the Brooklyn and Manhattan approaches to provide motorists with real time traffic conditions
Dedicating a tow truck service to ensure a quick response in clearing disabled vehicles from the bridge
Posting Traffic Enforcement Agents on either side of the bridge to help maintain a smooth flow of traffic and
Providing Park and Ride locations Citywide. To obtain the location of a Park and Ride lot near you contact the Department.

The 90's

The Williamsburg Bridge has served NYC for almost 100 years, but in 1988, age, weather, traffic volume increases and deferred maintenance finally caught up with the Bridge and it had to be temporarily closed. At that time, a technical advisory committee formed to decide the fate of the Williamsburg Bridge proposed three options:

Permanently close the Bridge: This would shift traffic through local communities to one of the other already congested East River crossings.
Build a new bridge: This would first require locating bridge approaches, possibly through the acquisition of stores and residences. Plus, the existing bridge would still require repairs while the new bridge was being built.
Repair the existing bridge

Of those three options, the one with the least impact on drivers and local communities was the third. And in 1988, the decision was made to repair the Williamsburg Bridge while keeping it open. The Williamsburg Bridge Reconstruction Project is one of the most ambitious projects undertaken by the New York City Department of Transportation-Division of Bridges.

During the 1990's, the NYCDOT invested over $600 million in the Williamsburg Bridge. Over the course of those years, previous contracts (#4, #5, #6 and #7) have:

1.	Rehabilitated the main roadway support cables and all bridge suspenders.
2.	Reconstructed the South Roadways main span deck, Brooklyn and Manhattan approaches, foundation piers and pile caps and columns and south footwalk).
3.	Reconstructed the Transit Structure (J, M and Z subway lines) across the bridge.
4.	Reconstructed the North Roadways (main span deck, Brooklyn and Manhattan approaches, foundation piers and pile caps and columns and north footwalk).