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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 15-98

December 8, 2015

Contact:

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

Traffic at Ashokan Reservoir’s Dividing Weir Bridge Will Remain Restricted to One Lane Through Winter

Temporary Traffic Pattern to Continue Until Repair Work Finishes Next Summer

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today announced that the Dividing Weir Bridge, which carries Reservoir Road over Ashokan Reservoir in the Town of Olive, will continue to be limited to one lane of traffic until next summer. Temporary traffic signals will remain at both ends of the bridge. DEP has informed local elected officials and other community leaders.

The 100-year-old Dividing Weir Bridge was reduced to one lane in February after engineers found that repairs were needed to its concrete arches, which have weathered over time from the effects of freezing and thawing. The expansion joints on the deck of the bridge also required rehabilitation. Work on the deck of the bridge was completed this fall, but crews could not complete the repairs underneath the bridge before cold weather stopped the concrete work. The bridge is expected to return to two-lane traffic once the repairs are completed next year. 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 more than 9 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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