Daily News from New York, New York • 183

CLASSIFIED BEGINS ON BACK PAGE Daily ....,,1. Jf Picture taken on Nov. 10, 1902 shows 4r5u rv bridge under construction, after it was hit 14 Sov by fire that delayed opening. 3 fcJVir TP 1 I SJ- i i i 1 13 irewauiiip By OWEN FITZGERALD $18 MILLION repair job on the Williamsburg 't Bridee and the threat of chaotic traffic 1ams await motorists and truckers in coming which after years of maintenance neglect are now in perilous condition, according to engineers. The $16 million cost of the current repairs on the Williamsburg almost matches the original cost of building the suspension bridge, which opened Dec.

19, 1903, the second span across the East River. (The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883 It was the last of the major bridges with lanes to accommodate horse-drawn carriages and wagons and soon had trolley tracks traversing its length. The elevated BMT subway line later crossed it Present-day and line subway service will not be affected by the road repairs. The bridge, between Clinton and Delancy Sts. on the lower East Side and Broadway and Roebling St in Williamsburg, stands 135 feet above the river and is some 332 feet high.

Seth Low was mayor of the city and J. Edward Swanstrom was borough president when it opened in 1903, ending years of wrangling and lobbying delays by public ferry operators who were already facing financial disaster as a result of the Brooklyn Bridge. Now the Williamsburg Bridge carries some 82,400 vehicles daily. There are an average of 100 vehicular accidents and nine related deaths each year on the bridge. engineers plan no detours on local streets in long Island City or the 59th St area in Manhattan, but will be closing lanes down on the upper and lower levels and approach ramps as the job progresses.

Traffic problems arising from the bridge repairs will be addressed by the Mayor's Traffic Construction Coordinating Council, said Fulton. Harvey Schultz, executive assistant to Borough President Howard Golden, cited the experiences of traffic rerouting caused by the recently completed overhaul of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway "trench" along Hicks St and the current repairs on the Owls Head Viaduct on the Belt Parkway. In both instances, he said, problems and complaints were kept to a minimum with the creation of local monitoring committees. "WE EXPECT THEM TO present a similar plan when the construction contract comes before the Board of Estimate for review," said Schultz. It was the board's action last week in increasing the capital budget funds by $5.1 million to $16 million which put the Williamsburg project in motion.

Bids are expected to be opened April 2 and, according to Fulton, work may start as early as July. The project is part of the city's belated effort to repair and upgrade the major East river crossings, months. While reconstruction of the outer roadways of the 77-year-old Williamsburg Bridge is not expected to begin until late summer or in the fall, an $18.7 million overhaul of the roadways of the Queensboro Bridge to the north over the East River will start shortly and will still be in progress at the same time. Henry Fulton, deputy transportation commissioner for highways, said the Manhattan-to-Brooklyn outer traffic lane on the Williamsburg span will be closed to all traffic for about nine months and then the reverse outer road will be shut down for repairs. The project will take 27 months to complete.

AUTOS WILL BE ABLE to use the inner roadways In both directions, but truck traffic will be banned on them because of the low overhead. Trucks will be forced to detour south to the Manhattan Bridge. Trucks are prohibited from using the Brooklyn Bridge. As for the Queensboro Bridge, Traffic Bureau wsmikv. at wwwwtw 1 -4 l.f At 3 I I 11 El tracks flank Williamsburgh Savings Bank Building as they mount bridge.

Tracks were a later addition to structure. In picture taken during construction, track-like walkways are an mat span nver oetween Dnage towers..