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Traffic along busy Third Avenue will be crawling for 18 months, as a key bridge over the Gowanus Canal is rebuilt.

No lanes will be lost during construction, but the wide thoroughfare between Third and Sixth streets will be squeezed onto one side of the bridge during repairs. And the bike lane and parking lanes will be lost for the extent of the repairs.

“It will certainly be inconvenient,” said a spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation.

But the work — which will cost $2.5 million — is necessary.

The work began on Jan. 17 — and the very next night, DOT met with the community.

“The railings and concrete are crumbling,” said a spokesman for Ghandi Engineering, the project’s consultants. “The utility supports underneath the bridge are badly damaged and rusted.”

The entire superstructure of the bridge — everything above the still-solid masonry work underneath — will be replaced.

At the Jan. 18 meeting, everyone supported the work — though a few grumbled about the fact that the meeting was taking place after repairs actually began.

There was also some griping from the Al-Madinah school, which is next to the bridge.

The school will lose precious drop-off areas and something that hits even closer to home: faculty parking.

©2007 Community Newspaper Group