Drivers going through Queens over the next six days should expect road closures and traffic issues because of construction at Kennedy Airport, according to a travel advisory issued by the Port Authority.
The travel advisory issued on Friday took effect on Feb. 6 and will be in place until Thursday.  The traffic disruption, the Port Authority’s website says, is “due to construction underway for the $19 billion redevelopment of JFK,” but did not explain why the construction necessitated the travel advisory.
The agency, which runs the airport, wrote “motorists and anyone using for-hire vehicle services should plan ahead for delays or reroutes due to detours or closures of parts of the airport roadway network” until Thursday. It “strongly advised” customers to use mass transit, such as the Long Island Rail Road, to reach Kennedy Airport during these dates.
Those who opt not to use public transportation to reach the airport and want to avoid traffic congestion should use the airport’s “free drop off and pick up lot” at AirTrain Kennedy’s Lefferts Boulevard Station, and then take the AirTrain to their terminal, the Port Authority wrote online.
Travelers can map out their trip using the Kennedy Airport construction website.
Before Friday’s travel advisory, the airport’s most recent construction-related transportation update was on Jan. 6. It concerned a new roadway configuration for Long Island drivers to access terminals 1 and 4, and instructed drivers using the Belt Parkway to follow the “updated signage.”
Sam Kmack covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and previously worked as a city watchdog reporter in the Phoenix metro area, as well as an investigative journalist at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.