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East Brighton Avenue Could Suffer More Traffic Delays East Brighton Avenue could suffer more traffic delays

East Brighton Avenue Could Suffer More Traffic Delays in Syracuse

By Scarlett Lisjak

Reporter:
East Brighton Avenue is gaining a reputation for… bridge repairs and traffic, three bridges are in need of repairs along a one mile stretch of road. The city of Syracuse says it’s important to replace the New York and Susquehanna Railroad Bridge over East Brighton as it gets closer to the end of its life…

Greene:
“Bridges in particular around the country have been aging and you want to make sure they are safe for people.

Reporter:
The city says its replacement is necessary for all drivers whether you’re on the bridge or under it…

Greene:
“You want to make sure that people can feel safe and that the infrastructure not going to cause any risk to them.”

Reporter:
“While the safety of Syracuse’s roads and bridges are important to the city some local drivers believe there is a better wat to manage traffic flow on east Brighton.”

Reporter:
Drivers that travel regularly ton East Brighton Avenue say the road could be better designed to prevent traffic under the bridge…

Local Driver:
“Another exit would be a good idea to help improve the traffic a lot of people go there and its almost a bottleneck.”

Reporter:
For the other 12 percent of bridges that need repairs in Syracuse the City says it’s on the agenda…

Greene:
“We always intentionally planning out in the future of what kind of projects need to be done next so there tends to be a pipeline of what needs to be down in the future.”

Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News)- Over the summer East Brighton Avenue had drivers frustrated over traffic when the bridge toward the south end of the road was being repaired. Some nearby business owners and drivers complained about how the flow of traffic was managed, saying being down to one lane of traffic mixed with bad drivers made the road dangerous. 

The Syracuse City Common Council announced that another bridge, the New York and Susquehanna Rail Road Bridge, won’t just be repaired but replaced on East Brighton Avenue. Micheal Greene, a Syracuse City Councilor, says this is part of a nationwide movement to fix aging roads and bridges.

“Bridges in particular around the country have been aging and you want to make sure they are safe for people,” Greene said.

According to a report released by the Federal Highway Administration, there are 47,000 structurally deficient bridges in need of repair that 178 million people cross every day. In Syracuse, 12 percent of bridges are deemed structurally deficient and crossed by nearly a million people each day according to a report released by TRIP back in September.

Greene says it’s important to fix or replace aging infrastructure in Syracuse so that everybody can have peace of mind while driving.

“This structure (the railroad bridge) obviously affects the trains going on it but also the people driving under the bridge, so you want to make people can feel safe and that the infrastructure not going to cause any risk to them personally,” Greene said. 

While the city says the safety of roads and bridges is key, safety during construction is also important to locals. Greene said to address concerned community members, the city could have the Syracuse Police Department in place to make sure drivers stay safe while the bridge is being replaced.

As for the rest of Syracuse’s 12 percent of structurally deficient bridges, Greene said they are always looking to make repairs in the future.

“We always intentionally planning out in the future of what kind of projects need to be done next so there tends to be a pipeline of what needs to be down in the future,” Greene said. 

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