Planned closure of I-87 from Newburgh to New Platz has been postponed due to a forecast of snow

Traffic Alert Update: A planned closure of I-87 from Newburgh to New Platz has been postponed due to a forecast of snow. A new date for the closure will be announced soon.

The Plattekill service area will be closed during this operation. Motorists should seek alternate routes while this work takes place or avoid travel in the area during these times.

Closed to traffic since May, the Brookside Road overpass has been hit by over-height vehicles nine times in 2023 and 27 times since 2019. These repeated collisions have resulted in considerable damage to the steel that supports the overpass and decreased the amount of weight it can safely carry. Following regular monitoring and multiple inspections, Thruway and consulting engineers have determined the overpass should be removed in the interest of public safety.

Built in 1954, the four-span continuous four-girder bridge carries Brookside Road over the Thruway — one lane of traffic in each direction.  It had a vertical clearance of 14.2 feet, which has been reduced to 14 feet due to continued multiple bridge strikes in both directions, including one on October 30 when its girders above the northbound lanes was struck by a truck hauling a forklift.

This work is scheduled to take place on Saturday night into Sunday morning when traffic volumes are at their lowest. As a result, all northbound lanes north of Exit 17 will close on Saturday, January 6 at 7 p.m. and are expected to remain closed for at least 12 hours. The northbound Thruway is expected to reopen the next morning, with traffic reduced from two travel lanes to one travel lane through the construction zone. All northbound traffic will be detoured at Exit 17 in Newburgh. The detour between the exits for traffic traveling northbound is 24 miles on local roads. Here’s what motorists and residents should expect on the evening of Saturday, January 6:

• At 5 p.m. Saturday, the Plattekill service area along the northbound Thruway — located between exits 17 and 18 — will close.

• At 7 p.m. Saturday, all traffic on the northbound Thruway will be required to leave the highway at Exit 17 in Newburgh.

• Saturday night into Sunday morning, crews will work to remove the overpass over the highway.

• On Sunday morning, the detour at northbound Exit 17 will be lifted and two travel lanes will be available except in the construction zone where there will only be one travel lane available. The Plattekill service area will reopen at this time.

• On Sunday, work will continue to remove the overpass, away from the travel lane.

• The second travel lane through the construction zone will open as soon as safely possible.

• Inclement weather could cause this work to be rescheduled.

During this work, both travel lanes in the southbound direction between exits 18 and 17 will remain open. However, the two southbound lanes are scheduled to close the following weekend (January 13-14) to remove the remainder of the overpass, weather permitting. 

Governor Kathy Hochul has previously noted that each year, an increased number of commercial truck operators, as well as those driving rental box trucks and moving trucks, fail to recognize their vehicle’s height and collide with bridges and overpasses, creating public safety hazards, traffic delays and damage to bridges across the state. From 2021 through 2022, there were a combined 808 reported bridge strikes across New York State.