New York State Department of Transportation to Maintain Interstate 84 Beginning October 11

ALBANY, NY (10/08/2010)(readMedia)-- New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Acting Commissioner Stanley Gee and New York State Thruway Authority Executive Director Michael Fleischer today announced that Interstate 84 (I-84) will once again be maintained by NYSDOT beginning at midnight on Monday, October 11. The transfer concludes 18 years of the Thruway maintaining the 72-mile stretch of interstate under contract with NYSDOT. The changes are estimated to save the State's general fund more than $3 million a year beginning in State Fiscal Year 2011-12. The change was anticipated in the current State budget.

"With both New York State and the nation in the midst of a profound economic crisis, the Department of Transportation is resuming maintenance of Interstate 84 in order to achieve savings called for in this year's state budget," Acting Commissioner Gee said. "We are prepared for the job and we look forward to continuing the tradition of providing safe roads and clean rest area facilities for I-84 travelers."

Thruway Executive Director Fleischer said, "Thruway staff worked closely with our counterparts at NYSDOT to ensure a seamless transition so that the motoring public can continue to enjoy a high level of service and safety."

Effective Monday, October 11, the New York State Thruway Authority will no longer post traffic alerts for I-84. To receive traffic updates for I-84, please see the Web link www.nyalert.gov.

I-84, which was completed in 1970, has been maintained by the New York State Thruway Authority since 1992. Prior to that, NYSDOT maintained the Interstate, which it owns. The highway passes through Putnam, Dutchess and Orange counties in New York State. It hosts four rest stops, which will remain open and will be maintained by NYSDOT.

To handle the additional maintenance responsibility, NYSDOT has hired 54 employees, including highway maintenance workers, mechanics, bridge repair staff and four crew supervisors. Most of the Thruway workers affected by the change have been reassigned to other Thruway locations where vacancies existed.

NYSDOT also has purchased nearly $6 million in maintenance equipment for the highway, including dump trucks, pickup trucks, mowers and a front-end loader.

I-84 is a heavily-traveled east-west route connecting New York's Hudson Valley to Pennsylvania and New England. Average annual daily traffic on the route in New York ranges from 28,400 cars and trucks at the Pennsylvania border to a high of nearly 75,000 between the Connecticut border and Interstate 684. An estimated 12 to 20 percent of the traffic on I-84 is trucks transporting goods in New York and surrounding areas.

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