Hospital Road Bridge nears completion

Construction of the new Hospital Road bridge over Sunrise Highway is entering the final stages, according to the New York State Department of Transportation, with concrete being poured on the last bridge deck section and fortification of the embankment.   

“The new structure, which is on target to be completed by the end of this year, will include additional lanes, wider shoulders, and sidewalks to better serve the community,” said NYS DOT spokesperson, Stephen Canzoneri.

The construction bids for the Hospital Road Bridge project were opened by the New York State Department of Transportation on Nov. 4, 2021. The contract was awarded to DeFoe Corporation of Mount Vernon, N.Y., on Dec. 3, 2021, at that time, for approximately $22.8 million. The project broke ground in 2021.

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.

Former congressman Lee Zeldin introduced the Safe Bridges Act on July 22, 2015. As a majority member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at the time, 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 Dec. 4, 2015. Zeldin’s legislation directed tens of millions in federal dollars to infrastructure fixes in Suffolk County, including the rebuilding of Hospital Road Bridge.