Ocean Avenue Footbridge Slated For Year-End Reopening

The Department of Transportation has been repairing the 131-year-old Ocean Avenue footbridge spanning Sheepshead Bay into Manhattan Beach since the first days after Superstorm Sandy nearly destroyed it.

Now the agency tells Sheepshead Bites that the project is slated for completion by the end of the month, meaning that in 2013 pedestrians will no longer have to take the long, arduous route around West End Avenue to travel from one neighborhood to the other.

Sandy exacted a tremendous toll from the historic bridge. Not only was it pummeled by waves and entirely submerged by water, but several sailboats and motorboats slammed into its wooden planks, shattering chunks of it. One sailboat took the high road, careening over the top of the bridge and ripping out a swath of its rails.

The boats were removed earlier this month.