Oops! MTA Back to Repairing Concrete on the Cross Bay Bridge

By Katie McFadden

Is it déjà vu all over again? Construction at the Broad Channel entrance to the Cross Bay Bridge has some residents and drivers feeling that way. For the second time this summer, the MTA is working at the bridge entrance—allegedly because the job wasn’t done right the first time.

Last week, The Rockaway Times received a call from someone who crosses the bridge daily—Mister Softee. Ari Kostaras called to express concern over the construction that began last week, knowing that it had already been done earlier this summer. “Yesterday, I see them digging up that cement that they just put down. That’s another expense and of course, causes traffic issues, and I have no idea why they’re doing it again,” Kostaras said last Thursday. “It seems nobody is responsible, and they don’t pay the price when they make a mistake.”

That came after a call from Broad Channel resident Ronnie Lonnborg, who provided more insight into what he witnessed, living close to the bridge entrance. Lonnborg said he saw contractors doing this work back in June, finally wrapping up the work about six weeks ago, but he wasn’t surprised when he saw them back at it last week. “They’ve started ripping up the bottom of the bridge again just as school is back in session,” Lonnborg said. “What they did last time was pour three to four inches of concrete over the existing concrete with no reinforcement, no rebar.

“I went over there one day the first time and said, ‘what are you doing?’ The construction worker said they were ‘doing what they were told.’ They knew it was wrong and I told them it wasn’t going to last six months. It lasted two months. It cracked and failed. Now they’re doing it right, going down 12 to 14 inches, putting in rebar and 12 inches of cement. But this is on the taxpayer to pay for their mistake. Who is responsible for this? I’m so tired of the noise and disruptions,” Lonnborg said.

The Rockaway Times reached out to the MTA for comment on this incident. In a statement, a spokesperson said, “The concrete work at the Cross Bay Bridge is associated with the installation of subsurface weight sensors that require the concrete surface to have specific smoothness that was not achieved with the first installation. We expect this work to be completed by September 30, 2024. This work is being completed under a design-build contract and the quality related issues are being addressed are at no additional cost to the MTA.

“There has been no unusual impact to traffic, and this work zone does not extend over the span or take away lanes on the bridge; in fact, traffic volume drops by a substantial percentage at the Cross Bay Bridge after summer beach season, so this work is well-timed post-Labor Day.”

Local elected officials are calling on the MTA to do better. “The whole situation is unacceptable. Residents and businesses were not given proper notice of the construction, and the reports of the work needing to be re-done is incredibly disappointing,” Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato said. “We expect better from the MTA! I hold them responsible and demand that the work be done properly.”

“This seems like a real waste of taxpayer dollars,” Councilwoman Joann Ariola said. “Instead of coming out and doing a full job in the beginning of the summer, they did things halfway. Now they are out here again, disrupting traffic and spending New Yorkers hard-earned money on something that should have been dealt with months ago.”