Hochul announced the latest mega-million project on Monday, Sept. 23. It will take place in Albany and Rensselaer counties as work begins on the $38.2 million bridge superstructure rehabilitation and resiliency project on the historic Castleton-On-Hudson Bridge over the Hudson River.
The project is the final step in the Thruway Authority’s restoration of the more than one-mile blue cantilever truss bridge, which is traveled by more than six million vehicles annually.
“The Castleton Bridge is among the thousands of bridges in New York crucial for transporting people and goods," Hochul said.
Hochul added that a $21 million federal grant partially funds the project. She said $81 million has been spent restoring the structure in the past three years.
Opened in 1958, the Castleton-On-Hudson Bridge, more commonly referred to as the Castleton Bridge, connects the Berkshire Spur section to the Thruway's mainline (I-87) and carries traffic over the Hudson River and Schodack Island State Park.
The Castleton Bridge is approximately 135 feet above the Hudson River and includes 43 segments and more than 364,000 square feet of concrete decking.
The first stage of the project is now underway and includes the construction of two crossover areas that will allow for a traffic shift beginning in the spring of 2025 and work under the bridge.
In the spring of 2025, eastbound traffic entering the Berkshire Spur from the Thruway mainline (I-87) will be shifted to the westbound lanes of the bridge while construction crews remove and completely replace the eastbound bridge deck. During this stage, all traffic on the Castleton Bridge will remain reduced to one travel lane in each direction. The traffic shift is expected to be in place through fall 2025.
The project also includes steel repairs to girders and truss members, replacement of bridge bearings, and safety upgrades, including bridge rail replacement, new highway signs, mile-post delineators, reflective pavement markings, and milled-in audible roadway delineators.
The project is expected to be completed in Summer 2026.
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