This 71-year-old bridge was recently replaced on N.Y. Thruway: What drivers need to know

New York’s Staten Island — The New York State Thruway bridge reconstruction project was recently completed, according to Governor Kathy Hochul.

In Onondaga County, the 71-year-old Schepps Corners Road Bridge, which spans the I-90 section of the highway between Exit 34 and Exit 34A, just east of Syracuse, was successfully replaced by construction workers.

In addition to providing wider shoulders and new guardrails for the almost 2,600 vehicles that cross it every day, the new structure boosted clearance for the roadway below.

According to Hochul, funding vital infrastructure is an investment in our communities’ safety and connectedness.We are pleased to have completed this bridge replacement on schedule and on budget, and it will give the residents of Central New York the superior quality they deserve.

The purpose of the approximately three-foot increase in vertical clearance was to reduce the number of cars that hit the structure from above.

Since 2020, 224 vehicles have collided with a thruway bridge, with over 50 of those incidents occurring this year alone, according to the Thruway Authority.

Around the time of the N.Y. Thruway system’s formal opening in 1953, the bridge that this project replaced was constructed.

Hochul has announced three multi-million-dollar projects that would modernize the New York State Thruway, including the Schnepps Corner Road bridge.

The biggest project aims to upgrade Ulster and Greene counties’ road systems. $21.3 million has been set aside by the state for pavement resurfacing and full and partial depth repairs on a 15.5-mile stretch of I-87 between Exit 19 in Kingston and Exit 20 in Woodstock, between mile post 93.8 and mile post 109.3.

Another crumbling bridge in Greene County will be replaced as part of a separate, $4.4 million project. A new, contemporary building will take the place of the Town of Catskill’s Cauterskill Road Bridge. Constructed in 1955, the bridge is traversed by about 870 cars daily.

At the New York State Traveler Map website, drivers can see a real-time map of the highway’s construction and traffic.

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