Nearly a year after its demolition, the Colonial Road Bridge in the Village of Thomaston has been reconstructed and opened for vehicular traffic.
MTA Spokesman Salvatore Arena said the Metropolitan Transit Authority completed repaving the bridge and reopened it last Thursday evening.
“The demolition of the old bridge and construction of the new bridge was completed on schedule,” Arena said.
The 115-year-old Colonial Road Bridge, which is located at the intersection of Colonial Road and Grace Avenue, was closed to vehicular traffic in March 2015 and demolished three months later.
Arena said that while the bridge has re-opened, the MTA still needed to complete some work for the project at track level.
“With the bridge work complete, the LIRR is now moving ahead with track level work including the 1,200 foot extension of an existing pocket track, construction of a new retaining wall as well as drainage improvements,” he said.
The construction of the new bridge is part of a $45 million project that includes making track-level drainage improvements, building a retaining wall and extending an existing pocket track used to turn trains around.
The MTA has said the replacement of the bridge is essential to the East Side Access project, which will bring the LIRR straight into Grand Central Station in Manhattan.
East Side Access will offer direct service to Grand Central Station from the Port Washington, Port Jefferson, and Oyster Bay LIRR branches.
The project, the MTA said, will cut the travel time of commuters who work on Manhattan’s east side by 20 to 30 minutes when completed.
Village of Thomaston Administrator Denise Knowland said Long Island Rail Road officials were coordinating an “opening ceremony” for the bridge, but no date has been set as of yet.
The Colonial Road Improvement Project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018, Arena said.
