Loop Parkway closures planned as construction resumes on two historic drawbridges
A construction project to replace the steel decking on two historic drawbridges on the Loop Parkway and Meadowbrook Parkway, halted in May to allow for summer beach traffic, is slated to resume Monday, state officials said.
The $13.1 million project was partially completed at the time of the construction suspension. The state Department of Transportation said that the eastbound span of the Loop Parkway Bridge over Long Creek and the center sections of the two Meadowbrook Parkway Bridge spans over Sloop Channel had been completed by then, but the remaining sections will now be completed over the course of the next eight months.
The DOT said that the Loop Parkway — which connects the Meadowbrook to Point Lookout and is heavily trafficked by commuters traveling to Point Lookout, Lido and Long Beach — will be closed from 10 p.m.-5 a.m. from Monday through Friday, Sept. 22.
And, beginning Tuesday, there will be lane closures reducing traffic in each direction to just one travel lane. Those closures will last approximately eight months.
The bridges were built in 1934 and officials said they "are vital to beachgoing travel and South Shore commuters."
The state DOT said commuters seeking to avoid travel delays should consider using the Long Beach Bridge between Island Park and Long Beach instead, until the project is completed next Spring.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
