Daily News from New York, New York • 97

VWm HI It ii iS li Si -il) (M) jy 1 inn" .1: 5-L vw" UtfUiUuMa Project to replace heavy steel trusses extend life of soon-to-be-65-year-old span, but unfortunately added in 1946 to protect Whitestone Bridge during high winds won't improve traffic patterns or reduce rush-hour jams. will ij. that carries 140,000 cars a option. super-light fairings, which look like camping tents placed on their sides, will cut the effect of oncoming winds and dramatically decrease the weight that the bridge's nearly 22-inch-thick steel cables must bear. "What they are is heavy," said Frank Pascual, a spokesman for the TBTA, an arm of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, in describing the trusses.

They block motorists' views of the river in both directions, said Pascual, "and by removing those, they take away weight and it gives added life to the span." Not only will the changes restore the bridge's "original elegant profile," he said, but they will also extend its useful life in definitely- is fc'S REPQRT, Playing hardball A Bronx legislator is putting the squeeze on education officials to open up mandated play space for elementary school children around the cjty. I Citing recent medical findings that childhood obesity -has become a serious health problem, state Assemblyman Jeff Klein (D-Pelham Parkway) charged the city Department of Education with using playground space to install temporary portable classrooms that often remain for up to eight years, without finding adequate alternate play space. Klein, chairman of the Assembly Oversight, Analysis and Investigation Committee, said its investigation found city and state agencies fail to consider playground space a priority. "Our kids need to be outside and moving in order to experience healthy play and exercise, and our schools need to have the appropriate facilities to teach those values," said Klein. Building funds Federal brownfields money is going to help build homes and commercial businesses in the South Bronx.

As part of a nationwide grant program announced last week by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez, the city will receive $1.67 million through HUD's Brownfields Economic Development Initiative and $5 million in guaranteed loan funds to assist in the redevelopment of a mixed-use commercial and residential project in the Melrose Commons Urban Renewal Redevelopment Area. The $20.6 million project Courtland Comer, will involve development of 69 affordable units of condominium housing, 13,000 square feet of commercial space, 16,000 square feet for community facilities and 11 parking spaces. VMM Weight loss will add to bridge's life span Mtstu erwitt QMiy news shouldn't be there hundreds of years from now." The fairing construction, already underway, will be done on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to avoid snarling rush-hour traffic, and is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, in time for the bridge's 65th birthday in April.

The MTA also plans to replace the bridge's thick cement decking next year with new steel and asphalt, similar to renovations made to the Triborough and the Marine Park bridges. Costing just under $20 million to build, the Whitestone was completed in 23 months, on April 29, 1939, the day before the New York World's Fair opened in Flushing, Queens. "This one is going to be 65 soon, but take a look at some of the other bridges in this city," Pascual said. "New York has many bridges that are either over or near a century of vice." I "There's absolutely no limit to the life of a span," said PascuaL "With the work that we're doing, you're ultimately going to end up with a brand-new bridge." The result will be a safer bridge, and one that looks a little more spiffy. But traffic expert Mark Kulewicz, a traffic engineer for the Automobile Club of New York, said the improvements will do little to speed up traffic flow on the bridge, which is notorious for its narrow lanes and tangled toll plaza.

Well worth the cost But Kulewicz added that whatever work is done on the bridge is well worth the cost. Pointing to many other expensive repair projects to bridges around the city, he said ignoring structural maintenance now could prove more costly in the long run. "Bridges, if properly maintained, can last essentially forever," Kulewicz said. "There is no reason to think that they. By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGEUST DAILY NEWS WRITER When you're a bridge day, retirement is not an Approaching 65, the Bronx- Whitestone Bridge, linking the Bronx and Queens over the East River, will soon be in the best shape it's been in since the Truman years, following a $32 million face-lift that could extend its life indefinitely.

The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority has begun slimming the bridge down, removing the bulky 15-foot-high steel trusses that line both sides of the span in favor of sleeker, high-tech fiberglass fairings. The unsightly trusses, which resemble a train trestle, were added in 1946 to protect the suspension bridge's main span after high winds led to the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State in 1940. Triangular in the jiew a CO.