Taconic Parkway Bridge Construction Project to Disrupt Traffic Beginning Sunday Night

ALBANY, NY (03/22/2012)(readMedia)-- New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Commissioner Joan McDonald advised motorists today that work to rehabilitate the northbound Taconic State Parkway bridge over the New Croton Reservoir will impact traffic beginning this Sunday night, March 25. The bridge, also known as the AMVET bridge, is located in New Castle and Yorktown, Westchester County.

On Sunday, NYSDOT will begin work needed to divert northbound traffic onto the highway's southbound structure – which will disrupt southbound traffic. Southbound travel will be reduced from three lanes to two. The northbound bridge will be completely closed on April 1 and remain so until November when construction is expected to be completed. McDonald urged motorists – especially commuters – to find alternate routes to get to their destinations.

"Rehabilitating this bridge is critical to the long-term viability of the Taconic State Parkway and to ensure the safety of the thousands of travelers that use this scenic parkway every day," Commissioner McDonald said. "Work on this bridge and the re-routing of traffic will necessarily cause delays in both directions. We urge drivers to use alternate routes and allow extra travel time."

Northbound traffic will be re-routed onto the southbound span, with two travel lanes in each direction. The nearly four-mile lane reduction will be installed between Pines Bridge Road in the Town of New Castle and Underhill Avenue in the Town of Yorktown.

Those wishing to bypass the work site can use alternate state routes including Underhill Avenue, Route 129 (Croton Lake Road), Route 100 (Saw Mill River Road), Route 118 (Saw Mill River Road), and Route 134 (Kitchawan Road). Major alternate routes include Routes 9 and 9A to the west of the project and the Saw Mill River Parkway and Interstate 684 to the east of the project.

To help mitigate traffic on these roads, five temporary traffic signals have been installed at the following locations:

• Southbound Taconic State Parkway ramp at Underhill Avenue

• Route 129 (Croton Lake Road) at Underhill Avenue

• Route 129 (Croton Lake Road) at Route 118 (Saw Mill River Road)

• Route 100 (Saw Mill River Road) at Route 134 (Kitchawan Road)

• The temporary northbound Taconic State Parkway ramp at Pines Bridge Road.

For real-time travel information, please call 511 or visit www.511NY.org. Project information is also available at www.dot.ny.gov/tspnewcroton.

The $26 million project includes replacing steel hangers, deck supports, concrete decking and railing, installing new guide rail and resurfacing the roadway on each end of the northbound bridge. Built in 1931 and rehabilitated in 1989, the bridge carries more than 32,000 vehicles per day.

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