This week's bridge is not a big one: the Hunters Point Ave. Bridge in Queens. It carries Hunters Point Ave. over the Dutch Kills between 27th St. and 30th St. in Long Island City.
It is a single-leaf bascule drawbridge, the only single-leaf I've seen so far. It is the fourth bridge on the site, the first being a wooden bridge which was replaced by an iron bridge in 1874. In 1910 a double-leaf bascule bridge was built, and in the 1980's it was rebuilt as it is today, incorporating the previous bridge's foundations. It carries one lane of traffic in each direction and a sidewalk on each side. The span is 21.8 meters long, with 18.3 meters horizontal clearance when opened.
The area is a heavily industrial zone, and not much of interest to runners in the area, unless like me, you want to hit all of the Newtown Creek/Dutch Kills bridges in one shot: Pulaski Bridge, Greenpoint Ave. Bridge, Metropolitan Ave. Bridge, Grand St. Bridge (all previously covered) and Borden Ave. Bridge (currently under reconstruction). The nearest subway station is the Hunters Point Ave. station on the 7 train, a ways to the west. I haven't been able to find the origin of the name Hunters Point Ave. (sometimes called Hunterspoint Ave., but never Hunter's Point Ave.), but the bridge was named after the street and that's good enough for me. If anyone's dying to know, I'll dig further.
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