Report: Fewer local bridges in NY are in poor condition

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- More state and federal money is being funneled into bridge work, which has resulted in a slight reduction in those deemed to be in poor condition.

However, there are almost $30 billion of local bridge projects in the queue, most of which are located in New York City.

"It's certainly a big price tag if you want to bring every bridge up to a state of good repair," said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. "That being said, there has been a significant increase in the amount of money available."

The comptroller's infrastructure update report from July shows that the percentage of all bridges rated poor across the state decreased from 10.1 percent in 2017 to 9.0 percent this past year. That's 185 fewer bridges in that category.

Local government-owned bridge work across the state is getting similar results, with 10 percent in poor condition. That's a reduction of 2.1 percentage points since 2017.

Of the 1,412 local bridges in Western New York, about 45 percent are rated in good condition, which is third in the state, behind the North Country (50 percent) and the Finger Lakes region (49 percent). About 7 percent are rated in poor condition and 47 percent are deemed fair.

Yet, the region still needs about $2 billion to repair local bridges back to good condition, according to DiNapoli's report.

The Bridge NY program awards $200 million per year for repairs across the state.

State leaders recently announced that Western New York would receive $77 million for bridge work, $23 million of which goes to Erie County.

DiNapoli urged local leaders to have completed bridge repair plans to better compete for state and federal funds.

Bill Geary, Erie County's public works commissioner, said the funding is enough to repair seven county-owned bridges, along with five more city and town-owned bridges.

Geary credits the state program for reducing the number of bridges deemed poor at a rate that exceeds past years.

"The last two awards in '22 and this year in '24 have been very successful for us," Geary said.

His "wish list" of bridge projects over a 10-year period has a price tag of as much as $100 million.

"There is a big process that has to be followed, but at the end of the day, we would never be able to keep our bridges without a program like that," Geary said about Bridge NY funding.

Want to know the condition of all bridges in New York State? The Office of the New York State Comptroller has developed an interactive map that shows the locations and conditions of every bridge. Click here to view the map.

Bridges in poor condition by county:
• Erie County: 25 of 395 bridges or 6.3 percent
• Chautauqua: 26 of 307 or 8.5 percent
• Allegany: 24 of 292 or 8.2 percent
• Niagara: 8 of 139 or 5.8 percent
• Cattaraugus: 19 of 279 or 6.8 percent
• Wyoming: 2 of 87 or 2.3 percent
• Orleans County: 8 of 66 or 12.1 percent
• Livingston: 3 of 69 or 4.3 percent

Some of the year's most expensive bridge repairs funded by Bridge NY include:

• City of Buffalo's Warren Spahn Way bridge over Cazenovia Creek: $4.7 million
• Erie County's Ketchum Road bridge over North Brance Clear Creek: $4 million
• Erie County's Bagdad Road bridge over Clear Creek: $3.9 million
• Erie County's Glenwood East Concord Road bridge over Sprauge Brook: $3.8 million
• City of Lackawanna's Warsaw Avenue bridge over Smokes Creek: $3.7 million
• Allegany County's Route 49 bridge over Caneadea Creek: $3.6 million

The full list of bridge work funded this year can be found by clicking here.