CITY PLANNING COMMISSION July 27, 2011/Calendar No.2 C 100385MMM ___________________________________________ ________________________ IN THE MATTER OF an application, submitted by the Department of Transportation and the Department of Small Business Services, pursuant to Sections 1302, 197-c and 199 of the New York City Charter, and Section 5-430 et seq., of the New York City Administrative Code for an amendment to the City Map involving: • the modification of the lines and grades of the Willis Avenue Bridge, Harlem River Drive, and Marginal Street, Wharf or Place*; • The elimination of an elevated public highway; and • The delineation of bridge approach ramps, in Community District 11, Borough of Manhattan, in accordance with Map No. 30216 dated January 24, 2011 and signed by the Borough President. *This change to Marginal Street, Wharf or Place, where such Marginal Street, Wharf or Place is shown on any existing plans for the water front or portion thereof, shall be incorporated into the City Map. The application (C100385MMM) for an amendment to the City Map involving: the modification of the lines and grades of the Willis Avenue Bridge, Harlem River Drive, and Marginal Street, Wharf, or Place; elimination of an elevated public highway; and the delineation of bridge approach ramps was filed by the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) and the NYC Department of Small Business Services (DSBS) on May 11, 2010. BACKGROUND The Department of Transportation and the Department of Small Business Services are requesting an amendment to the City Map involving the modification of the lines and grades of the Willis Avenue Bridge, Harlem River Drive, and Marginal Street, Wharf, or Place; elimination of an elevated public highway; and the delineation of bridge approach ramps, in order to facilitate the replacement of the Willis Avenue Bridge over the Harlem River and to provide a maintenance and emergency access area for both the Willis Avenue and JFK bridges, in the East Harlem neighborhood of Community District 11, Borough of Manhattan. Changes to the City Map required to facilitate the replacement of the bridge on the Bronx side were the subject of a previous application, (C030028MMX), which was approved by the City Planning Commission on May 10, 2006 (Calendar No. 15). The Willis Avenue Bridge, a swing type, movable bridge, spans the Harlem River and connects First Avenue, East 125th Street, and the FDR Drive in Manhattan with Willis Avenue at East 132nd Street and Bruckner Boulevard in the Bronx. It is a principal northbound route from Manhattan to the Bronx, carrying more than 70,000 vehicles daily, and together with the southbound Third Avenue Bridge, provides a toll-free alternative to the Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Bridge (a.k.a. Triborough Bridge). The bridge carries four lanes of traffic and also provides pedestrian and bicycle access between Manhattan and the Bronx. The swing span permits the passage of tall vessels on the Harlem River. The bridge is easily reached from the local Manhattan street network, via First Avenue at East 125th Street, as well as from the northbound FDR Drive via ramp structures. In the Bronx, the bridge connects to Willis Avenue, where there is access to a northbound entrance ramp to the Major Deegan Expressway at E. 135th Street, and connects to Bruckner Boulevard via a ramp structure. In August 2007, construction began to replace the Willis Avenue Bridge with a new structure along a new alignment immediately south and slightly skewed to the old bridge. The old bridge structure was over one hundred years old and had outlived its useful lifespan. It did not meet current structural and seismic requirements or current geometric design standards. The poor horizontal geometry of the bridge could not be fully corrected without major changes to the bridge alignment. The construction of the replacement bridge south of and adjacent to the old bridge allows for correction of non-standard geometry and facilitates the maintenance of vehicular and maritime traffic during construction. The construction project includes complete replacement of the entire bridge structure (bridge swing span, flanking bowstring span and girder span), spanning the river with a new center bridge swing span and a flanking girder span on each side on a new alignment, a new pivot pier and end support piers, and all new steel approaches and ramps, designed according to current Page 2 C 100385 MMM standards, which transition back to existing connections with the street and arterial highway networks. The main structure of the new bridge (over the river) provides four traffic lanes, similar to the old bridge, but is wider, 71.6 feet compared to 66.5 feet, in order to accommodate standard 12- foot wide lanes and two 4-foot wide shoulders, compared to the prior 10-foot wide lanes without shoulders. The new bridge also has a single standard 12-foot wide combined pedestrian/bicycle path on its north side, with new stairs and ADA-compliant ramps providing connections to the Manhattan waterfront and Bronx bicycle network. The old walkways/bikeways were located on both sides of the bridge and varied from a maximum 8 feet wide to as low as 5 feet and often contained multiple obstacles within the walkway reducing its effective width and creating unsafe conditions for both pedestrians and bicyclists. All features of the new bridge and approach ramps are as per current design standards with the exception of the non-standard lane width and lateral clearance on a portion of the FDR Drive approach ramp due to physical constraints as it threads through the existing RFK Bridge columns. These design improvements are expected to substantially reduce the accident rate on the bridge and approaches. As all substructures would be completely replaced, all current seismic design criteria would be met. In Manhattan, the First Avenue approach and FDR Drive ramp have been replaced on new alignments with standard radius curves and the mainline center swing span and flanking girder spans are in place. The new pivot pier for the swing bridge is located 118 feet east of the existing pier, but still provides two 109-foot wide channels, as did the old pier. The new pier was shifted to the east, closer to the center of the channel, to facilitate construction of a wider curve alignment on the FDR approach ramp to the bridge. The old swing bridge, which opened for tall vessels, had a vertical clearance of 24 feet above Mean High Water Level (MHWL) when closed. The new swing bridge when closed has a 25 foot clearance above the Mean High Water Line which makes it consistent with other bridges along the river. The majority of the bridge and ramp construction work has already been completed: the new swing span was installed in August 2010 and all construction necessary to safely open the new bridge to traffic from both the FDR Drive (NB) and First Avenue in Manhattan to Bruckner Page 3 C 100385 MMM Boulevard and Willis Avenue in the Bronx was completed in September 2010. On October 2, 2010 traffic was successfully diverted from the old bridge to the new bridge. Completion of the entire bridge replacement project including remaining work on ramps, piers and abutments, utility work, and further testing of bridge mechanical, electrical and hydraulic systems is anticipated to be in December 2012. An access area will be provided from the local street grid system, entering from approximately E. 127th St., to the new Willis Avenue Bridge and RFK Bridge for the purpose of inspection, maintenance, and repair, both on scheduled and emergency basis and to provide emergency access to both bridges for the Fire Department (FDNY). A portion of Marginal Street, Wharf or Place will be eliminated from the City Map from E. 127th to E. 125th streets and established as part of The Harlem River Drive to provide for this access area which will encompass the new bridge alignment, as well as the bridge columns and foundations, plus an additional width required for access and maintenance of those structures. This area will remain unobstructed and will be available for shared use by pedestrians and bicyclists accessing the waterfront from E. 127th Street or from Harlem River Park located to the north once all DOT construction in the area is completed, including future reconstruction of the E. 127th Street viaduct scheduled to begin in 2013 and ending in 2015. A collapsed portion of the bulkhead area (existing condition) was also restored, providing for a wider access area under the new Willis Avenue Bridge. The project site lies within M1-1, M1-2, M2-2 and R7-2 zoning districts in Manhattan. The surrounding area is developed with a mixture of low, medium and high-rise residential buildings and commercial uses. There are numerous vacant lots along Second Avenue. A NYC Transit Authority Bus Depot occupies the entire block bounded by First and Second avenues and 126th and 127th streets. The Bus Depot was constructed over the site of the former Elmendorf Reformed Church Cemetery, where enslaved and free Africans were interred. A community task force has plans to erect a memorial, possibly in Harlem River Park, to commemorate the site as the Harlem African Burial Ground. A bus parking lot is directly across from the bus depot on Second Avenue, and a salt storage facility operated by the Department of Sanitation is located west of the Harlem River Drive at E. 125th Street. Page 4 C 100385 MMM The affected agencies and utilities were polled on June 4, 2010. No agencies expressed any objections to the proposal. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW This application (C100385MMM) was reviewed pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), and the SEQRA regulations set forth in Volume 6 of the New York Code of Rules and Regulations, Section 617.00 et seq., and the City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) Rules of Procedure of 1991 and Executive Order No.