It’s going to be a hassle to use FDR Drive in the late evening/overnight hours during the next several months, but a much smoother ride is in store when a major repaving project is complete. This week, the Department of Transportation began work on the project, beginning with a stretch of the roadway on the Lower East Side.
The work is being done between the hours of 11 p.m.-6 a.m. Monday-Friday. You can expect one or more lane closures at any given time. This week, crews are focused on the northbound lanes of the FDR from Montgomery Street to East Houston Street.
The $11 million project will eventually cover the area between the Battery and the RFK Bridge. During a news conference, DOT Deputy Commissioner Galileo Orlando, said the agency would try to be “considerate of our neighbors while we do this work,” keeping in mind that the construction will be noisy and disruptive. “Once they start this work, it moves relatively quickly,” he added, “and we ask everybody to be patient.”
You can keep tabs on the weekly construction schedule here.
I live adjacent to the FDR, and highway noise is horrendous. However, after it rains and the FDR is slick, the noise is a lot less. When the FDR is repaved, is it possible to use a material which similarly reduces noise. I have just written a comment to the DOT, asking them to look into this.