Woodbury supervisor: ‘The Town of Woodbury has received a tremendous gift’

On July 5, 2023, we received notification of the $2.927 million BRIDGE NY award the Town of Woodbury received for the replacement of the Ridge Road Bridge and culvert.

Woodbury received a double blessing because another $1.5 million gift was bestowed to Orange County to replace the Dunderberg Road culvert carrying the tributary to Woodbury Creek.

The undertaking to help make this happen was arduous since the morning of Jan. 5, 2023, Councilmember Tyler Etzel, Town Engineer Jason Pitingaro, Town Counsel Joseph McKay, Village Streets Superintendent Robert Weyant, Patrick Connelly from Sullivan Construction & Paving and I, Town Supervisor Thomas J. Burke, met to discuss the process for applying to the Bridges NY Grants.

We had 15 days to complete this application.

The evening of Jan.19th the completed application was submitted.

I am thankful to Sen. James Skoufis, Town Engineer Pitingaro, Rob Weyant, Mayor Andrew Giacomazza and staff from my office for working smart and quickly to make this happen.

Below I am sharing a caption of the letter which explains why it was critical for Woodbury to receive this award:

1. The Ridge Road Bridge, built in 1932 and rehabilitated in 1999, had undergone a litany of repairs over the years. We’ve gone through great efforts to maintain the bridge’s functionality, but its undersized waterway opening, and age stymie those efforts; the structure continues to degrade at a rapid pace.

2. Although the Ridge Road Bridge doesn’t rise above a vast waterway at a grand scale, its innocuous appearance belies its importance to our community. It carries Ridge Road, the westernmost roadway connecting the parts of Woodbury north and south of County Route 105. Without this connection, our community loses a critical route for residents, school buses and emergency services vehicles.

3. The Ridge Road Bridge’s stone masonry abutment wall failed in early 2022, and we closed the bridge to traffic for the safety of our community. Because the bridge provides such an essential connection, and any alternative routes would either direct our residents through our neighbor Kiryas Joel or circuitously through the easterly parts of Woodbury, even a temporary detour proved infeasible. We therefore procured a temporary bridge, which was installed over the existing bridge, to restore vehicular passage between Ridge Road and County Route 105 until we could move forward with a permanent solution.

4. The Ridge Road Bridge Replacement project will ultimately provide the following:

a. Improve quality of life for Woodbury residents.

b. The Ridge Road Bridge Replacement project will permanently restore this route.

c. Improve the water quality of the Woodbury Creek and its tributaries.

d. Streambank stabilization measures will be incorporated into the bridge replacement, which will mitigate both scouring on the new bridge and pollutant loading in the stream.

e. The project will also right-size the bridge opening; this rightsizing will mitigate scouring, and it will also enhance the movement of aquatic life in the waterway.

f. The Ridge Road Bridge Replacement project will invest in the future of Woodbury.

The Town of Woodbury has received a tremendous gift and we are now forging ahead to make this all a reality.

Respectfully submitted,

Thomas J. Burke

Woodbury Supervisor