New Paltz Bridge Replacement Won’t Stop Vehicles or The Regatta

After much planning and many meetings the time has come to replace the Carmine Liberta Bridge on Route 299 in New Paltz. Fortunately neither traffic or The New Paltz Regatta will be effected. If you are not sure which bridge this is, it would be the two lane bridge that crosses the Wallkill River in the Village of New Paltz and leads out to the "Gunks". The New Paltz Times recently reported the 76 year old bridge handle 10,000 vehicles a day and if you have ever been traveling through New Paltz and been stuck in traffic you would agree that is completely possible.

The bridge was built in 1940, and was named officially for Carmine Liberta, a local Korean War veteran in 2008. The work that needs to be done on the bridge has been the topic of conversation for quite some time. Desperately in need of repair there was no choice but replace it, but how and when became the topic for everyone from local event organizers to Ulster County Executive Mike Hein.

The bridge is the only way in and out of town. To close the bridge would have meant diverting traffic to crossings north (Rosendale) and/or south (Gardiner) of the village of New Paltz. This plan didn't sit well with people in any of the towns that would have been effected. The added traffic in Rosendale and Gardiner would cause new issues and in New Paltz, the gateway to the Gunks, it would have meant a drastic, even devastating effect on local area businesses.

So after a lot of planning and process next week the project will begin and the first step will be to create a temporary crossing just north of the current bridge. When the new bridge is complete in December not only will there be a new bridge but according to a story in the New Paltz Times there will also be a pedestrian element and Route 299 will be wider west of the bridge offering safer road side room for walkers and bikers on the route out to the Gunks.

Check out Wallkill River Bridge History

A view from the Wallkill River from two years ago will give you an idea on why the repairs need to be done.