The one-way alternating traffic pattern that started this week between Ocean Parkway and the Robert Moses Causeway bridge system is expected to continue throughout the month, weather permitting, according to the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) announcement on March 30. Flaggers have been stationed from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. since then to monitor traffic flow.
Although the NYSDOT implemented this activity to “facilitate annual inspection,” many are questioning if there’s more to it than that after the discovery of a pizza box-sized hole in the roadway of the Fire Island Inlet Bridge, which became the subject of a viral video clip on Feb. 20.
Any year-round Fire Islander will confirm that the alternating traffic pattern closure, although often inconvenient, is a routine part of the bridge system in early spring, as such inspections are undertaken before the busy summer season. However, that hole remains a legitimate concern…