Verrazano Bridge To Get An HOV Lane In 2017

Drivers will get across the Verrazano Bridge faster after the MTA completes work on its overhaul of the upper level, which includes installing a high-occupancy vehicle lane for cars and buses.

The HOV lane is set to be built on the upper deck of the Verrazano Bridge. It is the first HOV lane across any of the MTA’s bridges and tunnels and will be complete sometime in 2017.

The lane will be used to lighten traffic loads for cars heading to Brooklyn in the morning and for cars heading to Staten Island during the evening rush hours, according to the New York Daily News.

Work on the HOV lane will begin next year. The bulk of the project relates to eliminating walkways and the center median for the HOV lane and replacing the upper-level deck. During construction, six lanes will be open on both levels for cars driving during rush-hour peak times. The approximate cost of the project is nearly $350 million.

Officials estimate that the new lane could save drivers 15 minutes between Staten Island and Brooklyn or lower Manhattan.

“This will be the first HOV lane across any of the MTA’s bridges and tunnels and will include a new ramp just off the Brooklyn approach that will directly connect to the Gowanus HOV lane. This means that the HOV lane on the Staten Island Expressway will stretch from Richmond Avenue just off the Goethals Bridge, across the Verrazano and onto the Gowanus HOV lane all the way to the Battery Tunnel, giving HOV drivers and buses a continuous HOV lane across two boroughs for the first time,” said Judie Glave, a spokesperson for New York City Bridges and Tunnels, according to the Home Reporter.

(via Bay Ridge Odyssey.)