WASHINGTON COUNTY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Bridge work is coming to communities in rural Washington County. On Friday, the county Board of Supervisors approved funds for the construction of bridges in two communities – and the (hopefully) final step of one long in the works.
“I hope this is the last resolution we’re moving on this bridge,” said Jackson Town Supervisor Jay Skellie, speaking about a bridge project in the town of Granville. The effort to construct a new bridge on Church Street has been underway since 2019, with rising supply costs prompting a demand for more funding along the way.
“It is a beautiful bridge,” said Granville Town Supervisor Matt Hicks. “It has a great big plaque – my name’s not on it, I have nothing to do with it, but it’s a very nice job.”
In the case of each bridge, Washington County is paying for a small part of the whole, with state and federal sources getting the work the rest of the way there. Find out where the work is getting done, and how the cost looks, in each case:
- Church Street, Granville
- Church Street runs north to south through the town of Granville, connecting Main Street by Slate Vallery Brewing Company and the Granville Chamber of Commerce to several streets and the Delaware and Hudson Rail Trail before ending at the intersection of Routes 149 and 22; it runs through the Mettawee River’s path through downtown Granville
- Added cost: $19,902 for additional construction costs to finish the bridge
- Bridge work started in 2019 at $4.1 million; Washington County paid $205K
- County Route 3, Putnam
- County Route 3 (also known as Arthur Road) runs north to south from County Routes 35 and 10 to the intersection with County Route 5/Jim Ridge Road, running alongside and crossing over an arm of the Mudlick Fork stream
- Total cost: $2.58 million
- $2.45 million will be covered by funding from the Bridge NY program awarded by the state of New York; the remaining 5% ($128K) is to be provided by Washington County
- Gray Lane, Whitehall
- Gray Lane passes over the Mettawee River, just west of Washington County Head Start and the Upper Turnpike, south of downtown Whitehall by way of County Route 12
- Total cost: $628,950
- 80% of costs are to be covered by federal funding; 15% by state funding; and 5% by Washington County
Bridge work has been a hot topic in Washington County in recent months. In January, a new bridge was unveiled in the town of Shushan.
Washington County contains 184 bridges listed by the New York State Department of Transportation. 25 of those bridges are considered to be in poor condition. Statewide, roughly 50% of all bridges are owned by the cities, towns and villages in which they reside, with the rest owned by a combination of state and local groups and commissions, as well as some railroad companies.
