NEW PALTZ – Eastbound
traffic along Route 299 rolled seamlessly across the Wallkill River crossing
in New Paltz Tuesday morning, shortly after officials cut the ribbon for
the newly rebuilt Carmine Liberta Memorial Bridge.
If not for the crowd of politicians, community leaders, and construction
workers gathered around the abutment, motorists might have overlooked
the fact that an entirely different structure has been installed. This
was the plan all along.
Hein and Mrs. Liberta cut the ribbon signaling the official opening
of the new bridge
“We are very committed to getting it right,” explained Ulster
County Executive Michael Hein. “We made sure there was no negative
impact. I understood, it would have been tens of millions of dollars [lost],
if we had shut this bridge down, and done things the traditional way,”
he said.
The county could have shut it down with 15 miles of detours and created
“an absolute nightmare,” he said. Instead, DPW crews worked
all summer on the replacement span, while a temporary cantilever crossing
carried vehicles a few meters north of the project site.
“We wanted something better, we believed we could do something completely
different,” Hein said. “We’re passionate about doing
something special.” He praised DPW, who also installed wider bike
lanes and a new pedestrian walkway, which will eventually take westbound
wayfarers to the foot of the Shawangunk Ridge.
Additionally, a park and creek access area will be installed at the village
side of the temporary abutment, offering a viewshed for the scenic Mohonk
Mountain vista – making this spot Ulster County’s new “Gateway
to the Gunks.”
Over three years, including 2017, Ulster County has invested $45 million
for new infrastructure, part of an initiative called Building A Better
Ulster County. The jobs all focus on enhanced pedestrian and bicycle access.
Several bumps in the road included complicated maneuvering to install
the temporary bridge, re-routing a busy traffic highway, and working around
sensitive telephone and data lines. A couple of freak car accidents also
occurred nearby, throwing a monkey wrench into the work schedule, Hein
said.
A New Paltz native himself, Hein chuckled when a busload of passing students
heckled him out the window. “By the way, I was those kids, when
I was going to New Paltz School, not that long ago; oh it’s kind
of long ago now,” he laughed.
Hein was joined by Angie Liberta, the widow of the man for whom the bridge
is named.
Back in 2008, the Village of New Paltz formally dedicated this crossing
after Carmine Liberta, a lifelong resident and Korean War survivor, who
had been active in local veterans’ affairs and served as vice chairman
of the town Republican committee for 25 years. Prior to its naming, the
bridge was formally known as County Bridge No.135.
Originally, a wooden covered bridge, erected in 1845, stood at the same
location. Later, a 153-foot iron bridge was built in 1891 at a cost of
$677. The next bridge was built in 1940 and reconstructed half a century
later, in 1990.
