ALBANY – A proposal by the governor to merge the New York State Bridge Authority into the Thruway Authority has been defeated.
Hudson Valley state lawmakers banded together to block the merger of the Bridge Authority, which operates the five bridges over the Hudson River in the Mid-Hudson region.
The local lawmakers have maintained a merger would have driven up the tolls resulting in significant negative impacts to area residents. Thruway Authority officials have vehemently denied that a merger would have driven up tolls.
“There’s a reason the Thruway Authority and the Bridge Authority have functioned as two separate entities, and I look forward to it staying that way,” said Senator James Skoufis (D, Woodbury).
Senator Sue Serino said, “These bridges are the great connectors of the Hudson Valley and our community turned out in force to defeat a proposal that threatened local control of them. I thank the Hudson Valley residents who made their voices heard to help defeat this misguided merger.”
Senator Jen Metzger (D, Rosendale) said the “ill-conceived proposal” would have resulted in a “shift of revenue from our bridges and our region.”
Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson (D, Newburgh) said the defeat means that “funds generated by tolls on Hudson Valley bridges will stay in the Hudson Valley.”
Assemblywoman Didi Barrett (D, Hudson) said Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt had established the Bridge Authority in 1932 “to ensure smooth and affordable travel across the Hudson River and to keep these bridges independent, locally operated, and separate from the volatility of state finances.”
“We saved local residents from being called on to subsidize distant roads while ours languish,” said Assemblyman Kevin Cahill (D, Kingston).
Assemblywoman Sandy Galef (D, Westchester) also joined the effort to block the merger.
