'Concrete' progress on overpass

Article and Photos by Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

Good news for commuters! There’s a “concrete” time frame for completion of the Thruway overpass at Exit 18B on Grand Island.

Concrete was expected to be poured starting Thursday, April 11, according to town Highway Superintendent Dick Crawford. And Memorial Day weekend, beginning Friday, May 24, is the target date for the overpass to reopen, he said.

“So, they’re a couple days ahead – for once,” Supervisor Peter Marston quipped.

It may have seemed like an eternity since the exit was closed for rebuilding, but it has actually been a little over a year.

“The crane is down, so it looks like they’ve gotten most, if not all, the rebar in place. So, hopefully, tomorrow, they start pouring concrete,” Crawford said Wednesday.

Marston said he was originally told “June 1 was their target, and June 15 was their absolute ‘mayhem’ – their ‘everything went wrong’ day.”

“They’re really excited at Beaver Island,” he said, because the closure was hard on business at the state park.

The $8 million rebuilding project began in March 2023 under a contract with Union Concrete Construction Corp. of West Seneca.

A detour has been in effect that takes motorists along Staley and Stony Point roads to their various destinations. The old bridge, built in 1954, had carried 13,000 vehicles per day over the I-190. The new bridge will have wider traffic lanes, emergency shoulders, a new guide rail, new riding surface and increased vertical clearance.

A Union Concrete & Construction truck stands at the ready at the New York State Thruway overpass construction site on Wednesday. Concrete is expected to be poured this week for the roadway, with a target date of May 24 for completion of the project.