Cuomo blows up old bridge in High Falls

HIGH FALLS – The quiet hamlet of High Falls in Marbletown got treated to a spectacle Wednesday morning, as Governor Andrew Cuomo visited to observe the demolition of the Route 213 bridge over Rondout Creek. He was joined by Ulster County and State Department of Transportation officials.
“New York State is making countless investments in our roads and bridges, to revitalize these critical pieces of our transportation network,” said DOT Commissioner Matthew Driscoll. He praised Governor Cuomo for securing $27 billion over five years, to rebuild infrastructure, most of it upstate.
“We’re here to blow up a bridge,” the Governor joked. “Life is tough when you’re a bridge.”
The new replacement will be safer, sleeker, with pedestrian walkways and better views.
“Infrastructure in New York was neglected for a long time,” Cuomo said. “People take it for granted. It’s boring, it’s not sexy, roads and bridges – but it’s vital.  The roads, the bridges, the transportation facilities are the arteries and veins of our economy. That’s how you move people; that’s how you move goods. And if you overlook the infrastructure, you do it at your own peril.”
Cuomo said the state is conducting the most robust construction program in New York history, including rebuilding the Tappan Zee Bridge, and both metropolitan airports.
News from Washington that the US Senate is proposing $1 trillion in new infrastructure funding is welcome news, Cuomo added. “We promise them that if they are ready to invest, we are ready to build. We will build better and faster and safer than any other state,” he said.
“We are ready to put that money to work,” Cuomo said.
With that, the governor, assisted by Driscoll and Ulster County Executive Michael Hein, put their hands together on the detonation plunger, and detonated the explosive charges placed earlier on the old bridge, which exploded with a thundering boom at a safe distance 1,000 thousand feet away.
The steel frame disappeared into a cloud of gunsmoke, and afterward journalists were permitted to approach the debris and observe the steel beams lying in the middle of the creek. Excavating machines with giant claws proceeded to maneuver down the embankment to recover the pieces from the water for proper disposal.
The new bridge should be completed by late June 2017. Until then, traffic has been re-routed up Cottekill Road down to Lucas Turnpike.