Getting There
Details about the Thruway scheduling repairs to the Castleton Bridge
Q: The bridge deck on the Thruway bridge and approaches over the Hudson River on the Berkshire Spur are in atrocious condition. Does the Thruway Authority have any plans soon to make it better?
—Anonymous Q: Can you please tell us why the Castleton Bridge over the Hudson on the Thruway is in constant repair status? It’s been going on for years now and the lanes on both sides are in very rough shape to drive over. There is constantly one lane closed in each direction for repairs and they alternate which lane it is. It leaves patches all over the road. Will it ever be done? Wouldn’t it make more sense to close one lane, finish it, then close the other, rather than alternating all the time and leaving it in terrible condition?
—Kathi Palmer
A: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced this week a $47.6 million project to replace the bridge deck and make other improvements to the Castletonon-hudson Bridge.
Construction will include the complete deck replacement of the westbound lanes, deck repairs and asphalt overlay on the eastbound lanes and bridge steel repairs. Other safety enhancements like new pavement at each end of the bridge, a new guide rail and new beacon lights are also planned.
The work will take place in phases and is set to be “substantially completed” by the end of 2022, according to a press release. In the first phase, all eastbound traffic starting at Exit 21A will shift to the westbound span via a crossover. In the second phase, westbound traffic traveling to the main Thruway will be diverted to the eastbound span.
The bridge opened in 1958 and is about one mile in length, connecting the Thruway’s Berkshire Spur to the main line. About 6.2
million vehicles per year — 17,000 per day — use the bridge.
The work will be done by L&T Construction of Richmondville in Schoharie County.
Teen driving: Wallethub ranked New York the best state for teen drivers overall. Factors
included the number of teen driver fatalities per 100,000 teens, the premium increase after adding a teen driver to a parent’s car insurance and the presence of laws addressing distracted driving and texting while driving.
New York scored first in the safety and driving laws categories and 31st in “economic environment.” Oregon finished second overall, followed by Connecticut.
Wyoming was in last place, with the most teen driver fatalities per 100,000.
Route 9: U.S. Route 9 will be reduced from two to four lanes in Halfmoon from Lansing Lane to Crossing Boulevard for nighttime paving starting July 12. Work will take place between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. Monday night through Saturday morning. The project should be
complete by mid-august.
Also, watch for weekday lane reductions starting Tuesday, July 6, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., for about two weeks for drainage work along that stretch.
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