Full slate of Thruway repairs on tap for 2024
New York has an ambitious slate of road construction projects scheduled next year, including multi-billion-dollar efforts in the Bronx and Syracuse to undo the damage done to disadvantaged communities by highways built decades ago.
The Thruway’s New York Division, which includes Westchester, Orange and Rockland counties, has 30 projects totaling more than $330 million planned for the next three years. Among them:
● Nearly five miles of pavement along I-95 between Pelham Manor and Mamaroneck in Westchester County will be fixed.
● In Orange County, 12 miles of pavement between Harriman and Newburgh will be repaired and replaced.
● Five miles of pavement along I-87 in Ramapo (Rockland County) will also be repaired.
Elsewhere:
● In Albany, the eastbound deck on the Castleton-on-Hudson Bridge on the New York State Thruway (I-90) Berkshire Spur will be replaced at a cost of around $35 million. The federal government is kicking in $21 million. (The replacement of the deck of the westbound travel lanes, along with steel repairs, was finished this year at a total cost of $47.6 million.)
● In Western New York, 16 miles of I-90 between Dunkirk and West Portland in Chautauqua County will be fixed.
● Nine miles of pavement on I-90 between Guilderland (Albany County) and Rotterdam (Schenectady County) will be replaced.
There’s a $61.8 billion pavement improvement project along a four-mile stretch of I-95 in the Bronx and Westchester. Eleven bridges will be rehabilitated, and two pedestrian bridges will be replaced.
Also:
● A $13.9 million project to extend the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge side path to Lyndhurst Mansion along South Broadway (Route 9) in Tarrytown. The project includes construction of a pedestrian bridge over I-87.
● Replacement of the North Avenue bridge over I-95 in New Rochelle at a cost of $31.8 million.
Here’s a rundown of other major projects you’ll see start or continue in 2024.
Central New York
One of New York’s centerpiece projects is the Interstate 81 Viaduct Project, a $2.25 billion, multi-year effort to reconnect downtown Syracuse neighborhoods severed when the viaduct was built in the 1950s and 1960s.
Construction started this year on the northern and southern interchanges of I-81 and I-481.
The project is overseen by the state Department of Transportation in partnership with the federal government.
At a July groundbreaking, Gov. Kathy Hochul said the project, decades in the making, would “weave back together the neighborhoods that were torn apart decades ago — healing the wounds that have festered for far too long and creating more livable, affordable, and sustainable communities.”
New York City
Meanwhile, in New York City, the third phase of a $1.7 billion project designed to cut down on pollution in the heavily-traveled Hunts Point section of the Bronx continues with the reconstruction of the Bruckner Expressway/Sheridan Boulevard interchange.
The entrance ramp to the northbound Sheridan Boulevard will be relocated from the left side to the right side of the highway.
The goal is to divert truck traffic from neighborhoods streets in a borough known for some of the highest asthma rates in the nation.
The upgrade will create a more direct route for trucks headed to the Hunts Point Market, home to a produce market that generates $2 billion in annual economic activity. Nearly 80,000 vehicles, including 13,000 trucks use local roads every day.
Orange County
Late next year in Orange County, the state DOT begins the second phase of the State Route 17 Exit 122 Interchange Project. Safety and mobility on Route 17 will be improved near the interchange with Crystal Run Road and East Main Street in the town of Wallkill.
Monroe County
The bridges that carry I-490 over the Erie Canal and Kreag Road in the Town of Perinton (Monroe County) will be replaced.
Suffolk County
In Long Island’s Suffolk County, the reconstruction of State Route 347 continues with the addition of a travel lane between Gibbs Pond Road and Hallock
PETER CARR/THE JOURNAL NEWS
Road. Crosswalks, a shared-use path and bus stops will be added or upgraded.
How are the Thruway service areas coming along?
The $450 million project to modernize the Thruway’s 27 rest stops continues next year.
As of October, twelve service areas had reopened: Seneca, Pembroke, New Baltimore, Clarence, Ardsley, Plattekill, Clifton Springs, Iroquois, Indian Castle, Chittenango and Junius Ponds.
Construction on 12 other rest stops has already begun. When work is completed, 23 of the 27 will be rebuilt and the remaining four get upgrades.
Among the new features are outdoor seating, Taste NY farm markets, picnic and play areas.
No two consecutive service areas in the same direction will be closed at the same time.