Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Bridge of the Week #4: Roosevelt Avenue Bridge

This week's bridge is the Roosevelt Avenue Bridge in Queens, which carries Roosevelt Avenue from Willet's Point and Citi Field to College Point Boulevard in downtown Flushing. Its 1,400-foot length crosses over the Van Wyck Expressway and the Flushing River and carries 4 lanes of traffic, sidewalks on either side (although I believe the north sidewalk is currently closed for maintenence work), and the upper deck holds the tracks for the 7 train. It was built from 1925 to 1927 as a drawbridge, but was fixed with the construction of the Van Wyck Expressway in the 1960's. It was overhauled in the early 1980's and is due for another renovation from 2012-2015. In the upcoming renovations the sidwalks are to be widened from 8 feet to 10 feet, with designated bike lanes.

In my opinion, it is not a very attractive bridge, nor very interesting other than the fact that it connects Citi Field (new home of the New York Mets) and Flushing Meadows - Corona Park with downtown Flushing. There are some wetlands along the Flushing River that might be home to some wildlife, but I'm not sure how clean the water is. There is also a large construction project taking place near the entrance in downtown Flushing which doesn't add to the pleasure of the crossing, although perhaps it will when it's done.

The Bridge was named, obviously after Roosevelt Avenue, which was itslef named after Theodore Roosevelt. It was originally named Greepoint Avenue, and still is when it crosses into Brooklyn, but the name of the street in Queens was changed in 1930 (I believe).

P.S. Sorry I don't have a good picture of the bridge. If I find one, I'll update the post.

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