The city is closing a dangerous Queens-bound lane on the 59th Street/Koch Bridge at night after the deaths there of an off-duty cop, a pedestrian and a passenger in three separate accidents.
Starting Monday, the outer Queens-bound lane on the lower level will be shut down between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily.
Queens-bound traffic on the inner and upper roadway lanes will not be affected.
Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said it’s the latest step the DOT has taken “to keep the more than 180,000 daily drivers crossing safely on one of the city’s most iconic bridges.”
Elisa Toro, a 10-year veteran of the NYPD, was killed early on Dec. 11 after she drove onto the lane’s exit ramp, struck a guardrail, and went over a concrete barrier.
Her car flipped over and landed in front of a store at Queens Plaza South.
Two other people have been killed at the spot after street reconstruction merged two exit ramps into a single, sharply curving lane.
An allegedly drunken driver flew off the exit ramp in March 2011, losing his arm and killing a pedestrian.
Grant Riddell, 38, was indicted for vehicular manslaughter for losing control of his car, slamming into Anthony Buscemi, 68, and crashing into two stores.
Buscemi died and Riddell lost his left arm.
The following month, Alexander Palacio, 39, lost control on the same ramp and crashed into the same two stores, killing passenger Beatriz Rodriguez, 40.
He was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a car — and, bizarrely, also his left arm.
The stores, Espinal Caribbean Restaurant II and Villa De Beaute hair salon, filed a $1 million lawsuit last year against the city in Queens Supreme Court.
After the crashes, the DOT added safety measures that included aluminum reflectors and electronic radar displays of vehicles’ speed.
Drivers last night were not happy about the new measure, fearing the lane closure will make traffic on the always-crowded bridge even worse.
“Traffic is already crazy, so when they close the lane it’s going to be a nightmare,” said Patterson Stirton, 43, an MTA bus driver whose Q60 route goes over the bridge.
“I’ve been doing this line for five years, so trust me when I say it will be a disaster.”
Another bus driver, Bryan Lane, 41, said, “It’s already mayhem.’’
Queens state Sen. Michael Gianaris, whose district includes Astoria and Long Island City, said he was glad the stretch of road was finally getting the attention it deserves.
He said he hoped the closure would give the city time to evaluate the street design and “eventually solve the problem once and for all.”