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Columbia University Work Closes Part of Inwood Street for Five Months

By Carla Zanoni | October 11, 2011 6:52am
Traffic will be reduced to one lane on West 218th STreet, between Park Terrace East and Broadway, beginning October 11, 2011.
Traffic will be reduced to one lane on West 218th STreet, between Park Terrace East and Broadway, beginning October 11, 2011.
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DNAinfo/Carla Zanoni

INWOOD — Columbia University will close a section of West 218th Street Tuesday, causing traffic upheaval that will last for five months as the school moves forward with its Baker Field construction.

Construction work will occupy the westbound lanes between Broadway and Park Terrace East.

Eastbound lanes will operate as a two-way thoroughfare and no parking will be allowed on either side of the one-block stretch.

The scheduled traffic changes are due to the installation of a construction crane at the busy intersection, which will also block pedestrian traffic on the north side of the one-block stretch of West 218th Street. Pedestrian traffic will continue to be allowed on the south side of the street.

The crane will be installed on Monday, October 17, and will "involve delivery trucks and intermittent closures of West 218th Street during that week, as well as the closure of the sidewalk on the north side of West 218th Street along the project site," according to Columbia University officials.

Columbia University is currently building its new, $100 million, 47,700-square-foot field house on the corner of West 218th Street and Broadway and will soon begin construction on a public waterfront space further west, near Indian Road.

The school received city approval for the project earlier this year, allowing it to set aside 1.5 percent of its waterfront property for public use instead of the normally required 15 percent.

Changes to the corner of West 218th Street and Broadway by the Department of Transportation recently received complaints when pedestrians were forced to walk into traffic in order to cross the road. Metal barricades were since installed in an attempt to protect people from traffic along Broadway.