BY ALINE REYNOLDS | To help residents near the Brooklyn Bridge be able to sleep again, the Department of Transportation has shifted its work schedule to limit weeknight hours and implemented new noise-mitigation measures, according to a letter from D.O.T. Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.
The May 8 letter was sent to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who wrote to Sadik-Khan several times on behalf of Lower Manhattan residents disturbed by the loud construction work. In Silver’s most recent letter to D.O.T., on March 22, he wrote that previous noise-reduction measures were not effective enough.
Citing the highly residential nature of the areas near the bridge, Silver also called on D.O.T. to stop issuing variances authorizing noisy work outside the permitted hours of Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sadik-Khan responded that new modifications on noise levels include installing mufflers and sound curtains, as well as relocating recycling equipment to areas farther away from residential buildings. D.O.T. will also be replacing certain types of equipment, such as jackhammers, saws and rivet busters, that generate the most noise.
Sadik-Khan said the bridge’s construction team had expanded work hours on weekend days so as to cut down on weeknight work and speed up the construction in the area closest to Southbridge Towers, whose residents Silver mentioned in his letter.
Finally, Sadik-Khan noted, in the most recent report from the site, it was indicated that significant progress had been made on the bridge’s Ramp A, the closest ramp to Southbridge Towers. As that work progresses, she wrote, it
will move away from the housing complex, likely lessening the impact on
residents there.
