Grand Central Parkway Bridges Get $161 Million Fix, and Mohawk Valley Drivers Should Take Notice

Seven Queens Crossings Reopen Fully Rebuilt, Signaling the Kind of Infrastructure Investment Utica and Rome Are Still Waiting to See

By David LaGuerre, Utica Phoenix

Governor Kathy Hochul this week announced the completion of the Grand Central Parkway bridges rehabilitation project, a $161 million effort that rebuilt seven aging spans in Queens and stands as one of the clearest examples yet of how New York is spending its record transportation budget. The seven crossings, located between Union Turnpike and Commonwealth Boulevard, now carry new concrete decks, repaired steel and fresh concrete barriers built to last another 40 years. For readers in Utica, Rome and New Hartford, the project matters for a simple reason: it shows what a fully funded, statewide infrastructure plan can deliver, and it raises fair questions about when the Mohawk Valley will see similar investment in its own aging river crossings.

The Grand Central Parkway bridges carry roughly 300,000 vehicles every day, according to the governor’s office, making them among the busiest crossings in the state. The rehabilitation replaced concrete decks, pedestals and steel bearings on three of the seven structures and made structural repairs, new steel coatings and railing replacements on the remaining four. All seven bridges were originally built in the 1970s. The project began construction in February 2024 and was completed using a design-build model, where a single team handled both design and construction to speed up delivery. It recently won the Innovative Delivery Project of the Year Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

What the $161 Million Grand Central Parkway Bridges Project Paid For

The project is part of the state Department of Transportation’s five-year, $34.5 billion capital plan, the largest transportation investment in state history. That plan funds thousands of paving, bridge and safety projects across New York, including work far from New York City.

On the Grand Central Parkway, crews replaced full bridge decks on the crossings over Winchester Boulevard, Cross Island Parkway and the ramp linking northbound Cross Island Parkway to westbound Grand Central Parkway. Four additional bridges, including the span over Union Turnpike, received structural steel repairs, new paint and concrete barrier upgrades rather than full deck replacement.

“New Yorkers expect and deserve a robust transportation network that they can depend on to carry New York State into the future,” Governor Hochul said in the announcement. “For nearly a century, the Grand Central Parkway has served as one of New York City’s most vital travel corridors and this rehabilitation safely preserves these parkway bridges for decades to come.”

State Senator Toby Stavisky, whose district includes the corridor, put the stakes in more personal terms. Every driver crossing those bridges, she said, is a neighbor, a commuter or a small business making a delivery, and waiting for a structure to fail costs far more than rehabilitating it early.

Why This Matters for the Mohawk Valley

Utica and Rome have their own version of this story. Oneida County is home to hundreds of state, county and local bridges, many built in the same postwar decades as the Grand Central Parkway crossings. State inspection records list dozens of Oneida County structures dating to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s still carrying daily traffic on routes like Genesee Street, the North-South Arterial and the bridges linking Utica to New Hartford and Deerfield.

The region has seen its own infrastructure wins in recent years. In 2022, the state completed an $11.8 million replacement of the State Route 8 bridge over Routes 5 and 12 in Utica, a project officials said helped support downtown redevelopment near the Adirondack Bank Center. Nearby in Oneida County, the state also replaced the aging Route 46 bridge over Oneida Creek for $4.3 million. Earlier this summer, the state announced the start of a separate $63.5 million infrastructure package touching the Mohawk Valley alongside the Southern Tier and Western New York.

Still, statewide numbers show why continued investment matters. New York had 17,666 bridges as of the most recent federal count, and roughly 1 in 10 statewide are classified as structurally deficient, meaning at least one major component, the deck, superstructure or substructure, is rated in poor condition or worse. State Comptroller data projects that hundreds of additional local bridges could slip into deficient status within five years without steady maintenance funding.

That is the backdrop against which Mohawk Valley residents should read the Queens announcement. The same capital plan funding seven Grand Central Parkway bridges is the pool of money local advocates and elected officials draw from when pushing for repairs to aging spans over the Mohawk River, Sauquoit Creek and the region’s other waterways. When New York City corridors get funded first, it is often because traffic volume and federal formulas favor the busiest routes. But the $34.5 billion plan is designed to reach every region, and Mohawk Valley residents have a stake in making sure it does.

Federal Dollars Behind the Project

Much of the funding for the Grand Central Parkway work came through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Senator Chuck Schumer said the federal investment helped rehabilitate the seven bridges while reducing long-term maintenance costs and supporting jobs. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand echoed that point, saying she would continue pushing for the same kind of federal investment in infrastructure across the rest of the state, not just New York City.

That federal funding stream is the same one that helped pay for the Route 8 bridge replacement in Utica and continues to support projects across Oneida, Herkimer and surrounding counties through the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program, known as CHIPS. The FY 2026 state budget included $648 million for CHIPS statewide, a $50 million increase over the prior year, money that flows directly to local governments for road and bridge repairs.

Local Officials Weigh In on Infrastructure Priorities

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards framed the completed project as proof that New York is choosing to invest rather than let its infrastructure crumble. “All across this country, there are roads and bridges on the brink of crumbling due to decades of disinvestment,” Richards said. “But here in New York, we’re working to strengthen our infrastructure, keep our communities navigable and make our streets safer for all who use them.”

That same argument applies directly to the Mohawk Valley. Local roads and bridges here carry commuters to jobs in Utica and Rome, students to Mohawk Valley Community College and SUNY Poly, and freight through a corridor that connects the Thruway, Route 5, Route 12 and Route 49. When a bridge closes for emergency repair, as the Route 46 span over Oneida Creek did in 2024, it forces long detours and hits small businesses that depend on predictable travel times.

What Comes Next

The Grand Central Parkway bridges project is finished, but the broader capital plan runs through 2027, with billions still to be allocated across the state’s five-year schedule. Residents who want to see similar investment reach Oneida and Herkimer counties have real leverage. State and county officials set priorities in part based on public input, local advocacy and turnout at budget hearings.

The most direct way to influence where infrastructure dollars go is through the people who write the budget. That means staying registered to vote, showing up for state and local elections, and contacting state legislators and county officials directly about which local bridges and roads need attention. Voter registration deadlines and information are available through the New York State Board of Elections at elections.ny.gov.

The Grand Central Parkway bridges will now carry New Yorkers safely for another four decades. Mohawk Valley residents deserve the same guarantee for the crossings they rely on every day, and that outcome depends on staying engaged, informed and active in the decisions that shape it.