Eliminatation of Truck I-278 in Queens

[dgolub]

Work is currently in progress to lower the roadway so that trucks can fit under the overpasses on I-278 in Queens, eliminating the need for the truck route.

http://qns.com/story/2017/12/15/trucks-will-permitted-grand-central-parkway-astoria-ending-soul-piercing-noise-local-streets/

[The Ghostbuster]

This should have been done decades ago. What took them so long? Community opposition? Not enough funding?

[froggie]

Still not Interstate standard (which is something like 16 or 17ft these days), but nonetheless an improvement over 12.5ft.

[JREwing78]

Only $2.5 million, and it took them this long to enact a fix? That's insane!

[vdeane]

This should have been done decades ago. What took them so long? Community opposition? Not enough funding?

That's a good question.  I always assumed that it would require more substantial work, but apparently not.  A comment on Facebook speculated that it's being done now because of gentrification in the area.

[Mergingtraffic]

I'm still amazed at the crap that passes for NYC expressway quality.  It seems there could be plenty of "cheap" fixes that go a long way in the city.  I can think of quite a few ramps that could be extended to provide merge time that they just never did. 

[SteveG1988]

This should have been done decades ago. What took them so long? Community opposition? Not enough funding?

That's a good question.  I always assumed that it would require more substantial work, but apparently not.  A comment on Facebook speculated that it's being done now because of gentrification in the area.

Could also be due to technology allowing them to do more stuff without totally rebuilding the road. Micromilling was mentioned.