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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 16-46

May 24, 2016

Contact:

deppressoffice@dep.nyc.gov (845) 334-7868

Motorists and Cyclists Encouraged to Follow Weight Restriction at Ashokan’s Dividing Weir Bridge

Traffic will be limited to one lane through fall of this year to allow for bridge repairs

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today urged local motorists and cyclists to follow the posted weight restriction and obey traffic signals at the Dividing Weir Bridge, which carries Reservoir Road over Ashokan Reservoir in the Town of Olive. DEP Police plan to increase their patrols of the bridge in the coming weeks to ensure the safety of motorists, cyclists and those working to repair the bridge. The bridge is currently restricted to vehicles weighing less than 16 tons.

Traffic on the bridge was reduced to one lane in February 2015 after engineers found that repairs were needed to its concrete arches, which have weathered over time from the effects of freezing and thawing. One-lane traffic is controlled by signals at either end of the bridge. Motorists and cyclists should also be sure to obey the traffic signals. Work on the deck of the bridge was completed last fall, but crews could not complete the repair underneath the bridge before cold weather stopped the concrete work. The bridge is expected to return to two-lane traffic once repairs are completed, likely in the fall. A new Dividing Weir Bridge is scheduled to be designed and constructed over the next decade. DEP owns, operates and maintains 57 bridges and 99 miles of roads in the watershed.

DEP manages New York City’s water supply, providing more than one billion gallons of high quality water each day to roughly 9.5 million New Yorkers. This includes more than 70 upstate communities and institutions in Ulster, Orange, Putnam and Westchester counties who consume an average of 110 million total gallons of drinking water daily from New York City’s water supply system. This water comes from the Catskill, Delaware, and Croton watersheds that extend more than 125 miles from the City, and the system comprises 19 reservoirs, three controlled lakes, and numerous tunnels and aqueducts. DEP has nearly 6,000 employees, including almost 1,000 scientists, engineers, surveyors, watershed maintainers and other professionals in the upstate watershed. In addition to its $70 million payroll and $157 million in annual taxes paid in upstate counties, DEP has invested more than $1.7 billion in watershed protection programs—including partnership organizations such as the Catskill Watershed Corporation and the Watershed Agricultural Council—that support sustainable farming practices, environmentally sensitive economic development, and local economic opportunity. In addition, DEP has a robust capital program with nearly $14 billion in investments planned over the next 10 years that will create up to 3,000 construction-related jobs per year. For more information, visit nyc.gov/dep, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

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