NEW YORK - Drivers will soon have a direct connection between the RFK Bridge and the northbound Harlem River Drive.

Currently, when drivers get off the bridge, they have to head up Second Avenue and around to another ramp that takes them onto the Harlem River.

The new ramp will take drivers straight from the bridge to the drive.

That will allow them to bypass city streets for the first time since the bridge was completed in 1936.

More than 17,000 vehicles travel from the bridge to Harlem River Drive each day.

The $48 million project is expected to be finished in May 2021.