Crews Begin Staging For Phase Of Construction Of New Smith Point Bridge In Shirley

SHIRLEY, NY — Crews have begun the staging for the construction of the new bridge to Smith Point County Park in Shirley, but officials do not expect any interruptions to beachgoers.

Legis. Jim Mazzarella updated constituents in a Facebook message this week, standing in front of a trailer on the east side of William Floyd Parkway near the foot of the bridge, where the staging area will be.

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A phase of the construction on the new bridge will be in "a matter of days" near the marina, where there will be a temporary pier to bring supplies in, he said.

"What we wanted to point out to folks that are coming to the beach is that there won't be any interruptions at all with traffic coming back and forth, and the staging area will be off here to your left-hand side as you approach the bridge," he said.

Contractors in the staging area will build a temporary pier to transport materials to the water and across to the other side.

It will take around four weeks to construct the pier, and then materials will be trucked in for construction sometime in August.

Construction on the bridge will be underway for around 30 months, with the county's Department of Public Works predicting a spring 2029 opening.

"Once we have vehicular traffic crossing that new bridge, then demolition of the old one will begin, and take about one year, according to Mazzarella.

When construction begins, he expects to return to the site and make another update.

The new bridge is expected to have a multi-purpose, handicap-accessible patch, which can be used by pedestrians, as well as bikers.

The state previously identified the bridge, which was constructed in the 1950s, for repair several years ago, and plans have been in the works for at least five years.

Last fall, a routine inspection of the Smith Point Bridge by the state's Department of Transportation revealed structural deterioration that required immediate attention.