Work on the Fresh Pond Road LIRR bridge at Metropolitan Avenue commenced at the beginning of February, and if you pass through the area, you know how detrimentally traffic has been affected. There are frequently long backups on area streets as a result. The work is by all means necessary and we are happy to see it finally underway after years of delays, so we will just have to bite the bullet until it is completed.

However, we would appreciate it if DOT sent us the correct information about what is taking place. For example, they released a brochure about the work that states traffic agents are on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 6 locations, but most of the locations listed do not seem to be staffed with agents at all. The new traffic patterns are expected to be in effect through January 2018. It was announced back in October 2016 that phase 1 would take approximately 6 months to complete and
would be finished before several elevated M train stations are closed for repairs this summer. Community Board 5 overwhelmingly rejected the application for September's annual 4-day Fresh Pond Road festival in light of the ongoing construction.