June 27, 2012 --There will be lane closures along the Saw Mill River Parkway and New York State Thruway on Thursday and Friday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to allow for inspections of the underside of the Ashford Avenue Bridge between Ardsley and Dobbs Ferry. Delays are expected and motorists are advised to seek alternate routes.
The inspections are a follow up to the incident last Friday night when pieces of concrete fell from the bridge onto the Thruway, closing sections of the roadway for several hours as emergency crews removed and cleared loose debris.
"The bridge itself is structurally sound," said county Public Works Commissioner Jay Pisco, a licensed professional engineer. "The job now is to make sure there is no additional concrete that could become dislodged from the bridge and put motorists at risk. We are operating from the standpoint of an abundance of caution."
The work on Thursday will require the intermittent closure of one lane in each direction of the Saw Mill River Parkway for several hundred yards between Exit 16 (Lawrence Street) and Exit 17 (Ashford Avenue).
The work on Friday will require lane closures on only the southbound side of the Thruway.
If it rains, the work will be postponed.
Prior to Friday night a $20 million project to renovate the county-owned Ashford Avenue Bridge had begun. County Executive Robert P. Astorino has since directed the county's Public Works and other departments to work with state and local officials to accelerate the timetable for completing the multi-year project.