Dwyer gets grant for Florida’s Jayne Street Bridge

Successive attempts by Warwick town officials finally paid off for Village of Florida’s Jayne Street Bridge. Town Supervisor Jesse Dwyer’s recent appeal for grant funding was finally approved and the critical commuting pathway for village residents and school children will reopen once again with the restoration of the bridge connecting the Golden Hill Elementary School with the rest of the community when the project bidding process starts in the coming weeks.

“I’ll certainly give [former Town Supervisor] Mike Sweeton a lot of credit for this, because he applied for grants to pay for the bridge year after year, but I happened to have been the lucky guy that applied for it in early January and it got approved this time,” explained Dwyer. “Unfortunately, we had to close down the bridge entirely for pedestrian traffic because when we did apply this final time, New York State engineers did a more thorough review to investigate our claims of the bridge’s condition,” continued Dwyer. In approving the grant request, however, the state imposed a stipulation that the bridge had to be shut down completely for pedestrian traffic and that failure to do so would place the town in jeopardy of a fine.

According to a 2024 report by New York State Controller Thomas DiNapoli, “The Condition of Locally Owned Bridges in New York State,” 9% of the state’s bridges were rated in poor condition. Overall, only 11 states had a higher percentage of bridges in poor condition than New York, including Rhode Island (15.3%), Maine (14.8%) and Pennsylvania (13%). New York was just slightly higher than Massachusetts (8.5%). The Jane Street bridge was among the bridges that were in desperate need of repair.

The closing of the bridge has had a huge impact in the Florida community, with many students often choosing to “hop the creek” than observe more circuitous — but safer — crossing routes to and from school. Only recently did the Town of Warwick learn that it got the final portion of three separate grants to cover the full cost of a $4 million bridge repair that will only cost the town taxpayers $24,000.

”We thank Supervisor Dwyer and the town board for prioritizing the Jayne Street Bridge and taking the necessary steps to secure grant funding with this project. We look forward to seeing the progress in the coming years and Jayne Street Bridge being open once again,” remarked Village Mayor Dan Harter Jr.

Next year is design bidding, followed by the beginning of construction, which is expected to not take longer than six to nine months to complete. “The entire process is planned to be under construction for not more than one season, subject to any potential delays that we may not be able to anticipate,” said Dwyer.

DiNapoli’s report on the state’s infrastructure was thorough, particularly for bridges. Failing to invest in bridges, for example, involves risks, not just to public safety but also commerce, economic development and even national security. In 2023, a total of 885 local bridges (9%) were rated in poor condition, a decline of 2.1 percentage points from 2017.