Grand Central Pkwy Exits Closed Through Saturday For Construction

HOLLISWOOD, QUEENS — Two ramps from the westbound Grand Central Parkway to the northbound and southbound Francis Lewis Boulevard will have alternating overnight closures from Tuesday night, April 26, through Saturday morning, May 1, the New York State Department of Transportation is warning drivers.

Exit 20A and 20B from westbound Grand Central Parkway to Francis Lewis Boulevard — which runs adjacent to Bayside from the Cross Island Parkway in the north down to Rosedale in the south — will close to traffic nightly from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. starting this Tuesday, weather permitting, the agency said in a news release.

Both exit ramps should reopen by Saturday, May 1.

Drivers can instead use the following detours from westbound Grand Central Parkway to access Francis Lewis Boulevard northbound and southbound:

• To access northbound Francis Lewis Boulevard, stay on westbound Grand Central Parkway and take Exit 20B to southbound Francis Lewis Boulevard. Continue on southbound Francis Lewis Boulevard, turn left onto Grand Central Parkway service road, bear right onto Epsom Course, and turn right onto northbound Francis Lewis Boulevard.
• To access southbound Francis Lewis Boulevard, stay on westbound Grand Central Parkway and take Exit 19 to 188th Street. Turn left onto 188th Street, take the next left onto Grand Central Parkway service road, and enter the eastbound Grand Central Parkway. Take Exit 20B to McLaughlin Avenue, turn left onto McLaughlin Avenue, and turn right to access southbound Francis Lewis Boulevard.

The entrance ramps from northbound and southbound Francis Lewis Boulevard to westbound Grand Central Parkway will also be closed during construction.

Drivers can get to westbound Grand Central Parkway by using signed detours on Francis Lewis Boulevard, the NYSDOT said.

This construction is part of the NYSDOT’s multi-million dollar project to reduce traffic and increase safety along the Grand Central Parkway by linking entrance and exit ramps.

"These improvements on the Grand Central Parkway will ease merges, improve traffic flow and reduce congestion for the tens of thousands who travel it every day," New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said last summer, when construction on the project first began.

At the time, the project was slated for completion by this summer.