Late last month, the Town of New Paltz Police Department announced the indefinite closure of a Brookside Road bridge that crosses over the New York State Thruway after a truck failed to completely clear its span. The issue is nothing new said one local resident.
Since 2015, Jonathan Venditti has lived at 263 South Ohioville Road, a property that abuts the northbound side of the New York State Thruway just north of the Brookside Road bridge. He said that since he and his wife moved in, around a dozen trucks have struck the bridge on the northbound side. Venditti added that the accidents have been happening more frequently.
“There were three in approximately a one-month time span a couple of weeks ago,” Venditti said. He believes the bridge is lower than others long the Thruway, with paving repair on the northbound side decreasing the clearance space. Venditti also speculated that the trucks which collide with it may be over their height limit, which according to the Thruway Authority is 13-feet, six-inches.
The New York State Police was unable to provide details about the number of times the bridge had been struck by trucks passing beneath it by press time. They were also asked other details, such as whether there was any indication if the trucks which struck the span were over the Thruway height limit.
Jonathan Dougherty, deputy director of media relations and communications with the New York State Thruway Authority, said he did not know how many times the Brookside Road bridge had been struck, but confirmed it had been hit “multiple times.” He said there were steps in progress to address repairs, but did not have a timeline.
Dougherty said the bridge averaged around 1,000 crossings every day.
“That’s a very low traveled bridge,” he said. “We’ve got bridges in the tens of thousands. In addition, the next crossing to get over to the other side of the Thruway really is less than a mile.”
Dougherty said the Thruway Authority connects with local municipal officials and emergency services when a bridge is struck, as well as determining a timeline for repair, or in some cases permanent closure. Dougherty said in the case of the Brookside Road bridge, repair rather than closure was the likeliest scenario.
In addition to the damage to trucks and the bridge itself, Venditti said there are other factors which make the collisions dangerous.
“I have witnessed cars subsequent to the collision hitting the debris (from the damaged truck trailers),” he said.
Venditti said the Brookside Road bridge has been “closed, detoured, temporary lights put up,” numerous times over the years while the Thruway Authority surveys the damage. Venditti’s wife, Lara Tozzi, is an English teacher at New Paltz High School, and he said the bridge closures add to her commute and have a negative impact on other neighbors.
New Paltz Town Supervisor Neil Bettez acknowledged that the closure of the Brookside Road bridge is an inconvenience for local residents, but said its close approximation to another crossing at South Ohioville Road makes it less impactful than it might be elsewhere.
“There aren’t a lot of places where there are that many Thruway crossings that close to one another,” Bettez said. “It’s mostly inconvenient for the people on the end of Brookside.”
Bettez said he’d discussed the closure with New Paltz Police Chief Robert Lucchesi, Highway Superintendent Chris Marx, and local fire departments and was assured they had workarounds in case of emergencies during the bridge closure. As of late last week, Bettez was still awaiting word from the New Paltz Central School District about its impact on their operations.
“First responders are aware of it,” Bettez said.“If it was Horsenden (Road), that’d be a lot harder because they’d have a long way to go. But if one had to close temporarily, this is one of the easier ones.”
But Venditti said the closure and continued damage caused by the collisions is a “huge inconvenience.”
“I think they’re threatening the life and safety of probably everyone in that neighborhood if you consider that commercial vehicles are being damaged by this,” he said.
Join the family! 
