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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, September 14, 2016
New Lake Road Bridge planned for 2019
BY SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
The Lake Road Bridge is on track to be
replaced with a permanent bridge. The
federally-funded project will see a total
replacement of the span with a likely
completion date in 2019.
“The bridge has been there for
almost 30 years,” said Matt Smullen, a
principal with the Clark Patterson and
Lee engineering firm, who spoke at a
public information meeting covering the
project at New Windsor Town Hall last
Wednesday.
The bridge spans the Metro-North
Railroad line near Beaverdam Lake.
Installed as a temporary bridge in the
late 1980s, the current span is set to be
replaced with a new steel-truss bridge
with a concrete bridge deck. Smullen said
the bridge will be designed to last up to
75 years.
Though the replacement bridge was
supposed to be temporary, it has served for
decades. New Windsor Town Supervisor
Green owed the bridge’s replacement
delay, in part, to “dealing with federal
government.” He stressed the current
bridge is safe and has no “red flags” for
structural deficiencies.
The bridge project will cost
approximately $3,300,000, said Smullen.
Eighty percent of the project will be
paid for through the Federal Highway
Administration; 15 percent will be paid
for by the state and 5 percent will be paid
for with local funds.
Smullen said the project will be
awarded to a contractor through a
competitive bidding process. He estimated
construction will begin in the spring of
2019. “It’s feasible they could wrap it up
in November,” he said.
A new bridge is planned to replace the current bridge on Lake Road in New Windsor.
Town of Newburgh to revamp sign ordinance
BY SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
The Town of Newburgh will soon update its sign
ordinance, addressing the growth in popularity of digital
signage.
“Currently, there isn’t anything in ordinance that
covers digital signs,” said Paul Ruggiero, Town of
Newburgh deputy supervisor. “Right now, they’re not
permitted. But, business owners have bought them.”
A tall sign stood in the Beverage Emporium parking
lot on Rt. 52 this month. A digitized section of the sign
read, “Happy Labor Day.”
Thanks to recent advances in LED technology, said
Ruggiero, the signs are “fairly new” in the town. “They
can be a nuisance to motorists driving,” he said, serving
as a distraction to some. “We have to get them into the
code so we have more control.”
The town council will amend the ordinance to
establish rules addressing brightness, distance apart and
how many times per day the signs may change messages
or animations.
“We can see that businesses are showing more
interest in these types of signs,” Ruggiero said, even
though they tend to be pricey. Currently, businesses are
being asked to limit digital sign changes to once a day,
without animation, he said.
The sign law update will provide business owners
with more flexibility in the way they display their
electronic signs, said Ruggiero, as well as additional
options for non-digital sign display. The council will vote
to amend the ordinance sometime in the fall, he said.
A digital sign located on Rt. 52 in the Town of Newburgh.