Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1) has provided an update on the long awaited rebuild of Hospital Road Bridge in East Patchogue. 

 

The construction bids for the Hospital Road Bridge project were opened by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) on November 4, 2021. The contract was awarded to DeFoe Corporation of Mount Vernon, New York, on December 3, 2021, for approximately $22.8 million. New York State currently estimates preliminary work will begin in early 2022, groundbreaking will take place in the spring of 2022, and all construction work will be completed by the end of 2023. 

 

In 2015, the NYSDOT declared the bridge “functionally obsolete,” meaning it could not handle its traffic demand. In 2016, a funding agreement was reached for a $26 million project to widen and make major repairs to Hospital Road Bridge. Eighty percent of the project is federally funded, which was made possible by the infusion of federal money to the First Congressional District from the SAFE Bridges Act of 2015. Congressman Zeldin introduced the Safe Bridges Act with Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (D, NY-18) on July 22, 2015. As a majority member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at the time, Congressman Zeldin successfully got the Safe Bridges Act included as part of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which was signed into law by President Obama on December 4, 2015.

 

“Hospital Road Bridge is a critical artery for NY-1 residents and a vital lifeline for law enforcement and first responders traveling to Long Island Community Hospital and the North Patchogue Fire Department,” said Congressman Zeldin. “Right now, the state of the bridge, which has been deemed ‘functionally obsolete’, poses a threat to all those who cross it, and the continued progress of this project is excellent news for all who rely on its functionality. The integrity of our roads, overpasses and bridges is not only critical for public safety, but a linchpin of job creation and economic growth in our communities. I am thrilled that we are finally in the homestretch to getting this much needed infrastructure improvement underway. This project continues to have my full support and I look forward to providing my constituents with additional updates as it moves toward completion.”

 

During Congressman Zeldin’s first term in office, he helped usher into law the Safe Bridges Act, which directed tens of millions in federal dollars to infrastructure fixes in Suffolk County, including the rebuilding of Hospital Road Bridge.