New York state recently completed the $739 million multiphase Kew Gardens Interchange project in Queens.
The area is the complex intersection of the Grand Central Parkway, the Van Wyck Expressway, the Jackie Robinson Parkway, and the Union Turnpike. It serves nearly 600,000 vehicles daily and, before the project, had higher-than-average accident rates and congestion.
Phase I widened a portion of the Van Wyck Expressway and rehabilitated the exit ramp from the northbound Van Wyck to westbound Queens Boulevard, as well as four bridges over the Van Wyck, the Van Wyck Bridge over Main Street, and the Queens Boulevard Bridge over Main Street.
Phase II constructed a wider northbound Van Wyck Expressway viaduct and replaced the one-lane entrance ramp connecting the Jackie Robinson Parkway and Union Turnpike with the northbound Van Wyck Expressway with a new two-lane ramp.
Phase III replaced the existing deteriorated two-lane Van Wyck Expressway southbound viaduct and constructed exits to the westbound Union Turnpike and the Jackie Robinson Parkway.
Phase IV installed five new bridges and replaced six existing bridges; widened travel lanes and shoulders; improved on and off ramps to enhance traffic flow; changed lane configurations for safer merging and exiting; and made lighting, drainage and landscaping improvements.