Kosciuszko Bridge Project Closes Williamsburg BQE Exit This Week

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — A Williamsburg exit off of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway will be closed this week as the New York Department of Transportation continues to replace the Kosciuszko Bridge, the agency announced.

Exit 34, which lets westbound traffic off the expressway onto Meeker and Morgan avenues, will be closed starting around 11 p.m. on Friday. The exit will stay shut down until 5 a.m. Monday morning.

DOT officials said the closure will let the agency's contractor continue construction of the bridge approach in Brooklyn, which is part of the Kosciuszko Bridge replacement over the Newtown Creek.

Drivers that still need to get to Meeker and Morgan avenues in Williamsburg should use a detour off of the Exit 32B ramp to Metropolitan Avenue. The detour will bring drivers to Meeker and Morgan by turning left onto Union and then turning left onto Meeker Avenue, DOT said.

"It is imperative that motorists drive carefully through the construction zone, for their own safety and the safety of workers," DOT said.

The agency advised that fines are doubled for speeding in a work zone and that convictions of two or more speeding violations in a work zone could result in driver’s license suspension.

If there is inclement weather this closure could be rescheduled.

The Kosciuszko Bridge replacement has been in the works for about a decade. The old bridge, which was built in 1939, carries 10,000 cars over Newtown Creek each day.

DOT completed replacing the eastbound portion of the bridge in the spring of 2017 and is working on replacing the westbound part of the bridge. Officials now estimate that the westbound part of the bridge will be fully replaced by September of the this year.