Storm damage repaired on 9W passage
New York State announced on Friday (Aug. 4) that the Popolopen Creek Bridge on Route 9W in Highlands has reopened after being damaged by storms in early July.
Heavy rainfall on July 9 and 10 caused a 20-foot-deep “soil mass” to wash down the bridge’s southern slope, the state said.
The repair work took about four weeks. The bridge connects the Bear Mountain Circle with Route 9W and provides access between Putnam and Westchester counties and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and O’Neill High School, which many students from Garrison attend.
There was concern the bridge would not be completed before school begins in September, or for Army football games. Many Highlands residents also work at West Point.
According to the governor’s office, the state highway department installed a wall “that uses layers of materials, such as fabrics, grids and meshes, to strengthen the soil and hold it in place.”
The agency will continue repairs to the bridge, including drainage improvements and sidewalk repairs.
The Department of Transportation also repaired storm damage on Route 9W between Cornwall and the Stony Lonesome Gate at West Point; Route 6/202 (Bear Mountain Bridge Road) between Route 9D and Route 9 in Cortlandt; the Palisades Parkway between Exit 15 and the Bear Mountain Bridge; the Long Mountain Circle between Route 6 and the Palisades; and the northbound Taconic State Parkway south of Exit 37A in East Fishkill, among other roads.
