New York Construction Report staff writer
The $31.8 million project to replace the 65-year-old North Avenue bridge over the New England Thruway (I-95) in New Rochelle is moving into its next stage of construction on Jan. 7, according to the New York State Thruway Authority.
D’Annunzio & Sons, Inc., the project contractor, will remove and replace the remainder of the old bridge—its center section. There will also be extended closures of the North Avenue bridge in both directions during demolition and steel installation.
During Stage 1 of the project, the contractor built the outermost components of the new bridge, including installing piles, constructing the center pier, erecting 130-foot-long steel girders and pouring concrete for the road deck. Burling Lane was converted to a one-way road for westbound traffic during this stage, which began in January 2023.
The project began in January 2023 and is anticipated to be substantially completed in Fall 2025.
Major components of construction include:
- Building a wider structure to accommodate a dedicated North Avenue southbound left turn lane onto Garden Street
- Raising the bridge’s vertical clearance over I-95 to 16’ 6’’
- Converting Burling Lane to one-way from North Avenue to Memorial Highway (westbound traffic only)
- Improving traffic flow on Garden Street
- Installing decorative lighting and fencing, and other architectural treatments given the prominent location in the downtown corridor
- Completing the Burling Lane Park, including an ADA compliant ramp to access the pedestrian walkway over I-95 to the Metro-North train station
- Rebuilding sidewalks and adding benches to both sides of the bridge
When the project is substantially completed in late 2025, the new modern bridge will be wider, improve traffic flow on nearby roads, and raise its vertical clearance over I-95 to 16 feet 6 inches from the current height of 14 feet 3 inches. The North Avenue bridge opened in 1958 and connects North Avenue, Garden Street, Burling Lane, and Station Plaza North.
The Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway, built in the early 1950s, is one of the oldest components of the National Interstate Highway System and one of the longest toll roads in the nation. The maintenance and operation of the Thruway system is funded primarily by tolls. The Thruway Authority does not receive any dedicated federal, state or local tax dollars and is paid for by those who drive the Thruway, including one-third of drivers from out of state.
The Authority’s approved 2025 budget has a total of $477.3 million in dedicated funding for capital projects across the Thruway system beginning in 2025, an increase of more than $33 million compared to the approved 2024 budget. The increased investment will lead to work on approximately 61 percent of the Thruway’s more than 2,800 pavement lane miles as well as the replacement or rehabilitation of 20 percent of the Thruway’s 817 bridges.
