See Photos of the Bridge
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced the reopening of the 10th Avenue Bridge in downtown Mount Vernon. The bridge is one of six bridges that span Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line in downtown Mount Vernon that the MTA is replacing. The reopening of the 10th Avenue Bridge further knits the Mount Vernon downtown area together and marks the public completion of a project began in March 2019.
The replacement of the bridge was part of a combined $23 million project to replace the 6th Avenue Bridge and 10th Avenue Bridge in the City of Mount Vernon. Funding for the project came from the MTA’s 2015-2019 Capital Program and cost approximately $11.5 million to complete.
“The completion of this project shows our commitment to being strong partners with Mount Vernon, and improves connectivity to the downtown area” said Catherine Rinaldi, President of Metro-North Railroad. “MTA will continue to advance bridge replacement projects in the City of Mount Vernon and to provide reliable train service in support of the region’s recovery.”
“The MTA is transforming the way we deliver construction projects so we get work done on time and on budget,” said Janno Lieber, President of MTA Construction & Development. “We are using a broad range of tools including financial incentives to hold contractors accountable, and finding efficiencies by bundling projects that are geographically close. Here at Mount Vernon these new approaches are helping us ensure we can reopen these bridges on the timeframe we promised the community.”
Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard said: "We are excited to see the reopening of the 10th Avenue Bridges this month. For years it has been closed, depriving residents and our public safety vehicles a key access point to cross our city. This bridge has been closed for years and I want to thank the MTA for working with the City of Mount Vernon to ensure that these bridges opened on schedule. I look forward to the reopening of the 3rd Avenue bridge in the very near future.”
Construction work included demolishing the old bridge and its road decks and rehabilitating its masonry abutments followed by installing replacement girders and the concrete decks of the bridge. Signal cables were also relocated. Additionally, as contractors worked to replace the bridge and install new metal fencing, street lighting and traffic signals, crews also conducted lead abatement and asbestos removal. The contract to replace the bridge was awarded to E.E Cruz, a civil construction contractor based in New York City.
The 10th Avenue Bridge is one of six bridges the MTA is replacing across the New Haven Line in downtown Mount Vernon. Construction began on the Third Avenue Bridge in April 2020 and is expected to take 18 months to complete. Metro-North reopened the 6th Avenue Bridge ahead of schedule in Sept. 2020. The 14th Street Bridge opened on July 3, 2019, and the Park Avenue/1st Avenue Bridge was replaced in 2011.