Council Member Joseph C. Borelli (R-South Shore), the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the New York City Department of Transportation are announcing the commencement of work on the Bridge Street cross-through turn in Richmond Valley.

This project will create a new small street and turning opportunity under the Outerbridge Crossing, just prior to the Arthur Kill Road and North and South Bridge Street intersections, to ease traffic and create efficiencies in anticipation of higher volumes of traffic in the area. This will allow motorists making left turns from North to South Bridge Street to avoid a dangerous turn and lengthy traffic light at Arthur Kill Road. The area that the new road will run through is currently being used by the Port Authority to store supplies.

The project was first proposed by Council Member Borelli in 2014 when he was serving as a member of the New York State Assembly, and he was able to secure $100,000 in state funding to kick off the remediation of the site.

As a city council member, he was able to provide the project with an additional $500,000 of capital funding. However, after working with DOT and PANYNJ, the agencies worked out a plan to the complete the project in-house within current expense parameters, meaning the additional $500,000 can be diverted to other projects, like the adjacent Richmond Valley Road widening.

“We are always pleased to work with Councilmember Borelli and the Port Authority, and the Bridge Street cross-through work is no exception,” said NYC DOT Staten Island Borough Commissioner Tom Cocola. “Safety of all New Yorkers is our mission and this project will help ease traffic volumes and create a more secure environment for everyone who travels through the area.”

“I would like to thank Commissioner Cocola of DOT, and Chris Lee and Roger Prince of the Port Authority for making this as much a personal mission for them as it was to me. Often times the public wonders why government fails to see and implement the simple solutions it could take to ease certain problems in our community. This project is just that, and I am glad to see government work efficiently and effectively towards alleviating traffic conditions near Tottenville and the Arthur Kill Road corridor,” said Borelli.

The Port Authority’s demolition of the concrete barriers and salt containers will be completed by the end of the year and DOT has will pave the new street during its spring paving schedule.