NEWBURGH – When a state road runs through a city, it is the responsibility of that municipality to maintain it. In Newburgh, State Route 32 is known as Lake Street and it has been the responsibility of the city to repair, a responsibility it cannot afford.
The state is now coming to the rescue as Senator James Skoufis announced on Monday.
“We are in front of the ‘temporary Lake Street bridge’ , the only temporary bridge I know that manages to carry trucks and cars for the past nine years. That’s a long temporary situation,” he said.
But, Skoufis announced the state will provide $1 million in a new program to add to the $950,000 previously allocated to replace the structure with a permanent at-grade bridge.
Mayor Torrance Harvey said the funding is a “step in the right direction.” He is lobbying Albany for funding to repair issues with State Route 9W, which also passes through Newburgh.
When the city installed the temporary Route 32 bridge nine years ago, it was renting it, but wound up purchasing it to save money in the long run, said Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson, who was a city councilman at that time.
State roads that run through villages and towns don’t have to cover the maintenance costs like cities; state law says Albany will pick up the tab for them.
