Mamaroneck REVIEW THE
October 20, 2017 | Vol. 5, Number 42 | www.mamaroneckreview.com
Mamaroneck to hold Hillside Ave. Bridge meeting By JAMES PERO Staff Writer
SCORE! Three teams from Rye Raquet Club made up of women 40 years and over will be going to the United States Tennis Association’s national championship this month. For story, see page 6. Photo courtesy Corinna Ausfahl
Students take part in Westchester anti-opioid summit On Oct. 16, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino urged more than 400 students from across Westchester to become part of the solution in the lifeand-death fight against opioid addiction. Joined by BMX Olympic coach and recovering addict Tony Hoffman, Astorino led a Youth
Summit at the Westchester County Center aimed at fighting a drug epidemic that has caused a 200 percent increase in fatalities in the county from 2010 to 2015. Students from 37 schools took part in the day-long summit that was part of the county’s Project WORTHY—Westchester County Opioid Response Teams Helping
You—program launched earlier this year. The program mobilizes a full array of available resources and expertise to combat the growing opioid and heroin epidemic that affects all communities and people of all ages. “Young people are dying,” Astorino said at the summit. “This is not a show; this is not just a day-
long assembly. This is serious business, and we need your help. Young people are on the front lines of this epidemic. You are eyewitnesses to what’s happening in schools, at parties, at the mall and on the bus. You come from all walks of life, and all kinds of OPIOID continued on page 8
Vital repairs to Hillside Avenue Bridge, located in the village of Mamaroneck, will be the subject of an upcoming public meeting organized jointly by the village as well as state and federal transportation authorities. In particular the meeting, slated for Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the village of Mamaroneck courtroom, will look to gather input from concerned residents on plans to rehab the nearly century-old bridge—a well-traveled village passageway—which will then be passed onto both the state Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration. Funding for the replacement of the Hillside Avenue Bridge will come from $21.8 million in grant money being allocated by the state Department of Transportation to go toward bridge repairs in the mid-Hudson region. Of that total, $2.8 million will go toward the replacement of Hillside Avenue Bridge. According to Assistant Village Manager Dan Sarnoff, replacing the bridge completely will only cost $150,000 after the grant. Since Hillside Avenue Bridge is jointly owned by the village and town of Mamaroneck, and the village of Larchmont, that cost will be split between those three stakeholders. Outside of updating the
bridge—originally built in 1936—the grant money will also go toward widening a culvert underneath its overpass that may help mitigate flooding in the surrounding area. State money for the project is coming from a pool of $200 million being invested statewide by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s BridgeNY program meant to inject capital for municipal infrastructure over the next two years. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, ASCE, of New York state’s more than 17,000 bridges, 11 percent—just under 2,000—are considered to be structurally deficient. The agency’s most recent report, dating back to 2015, gave New York a C- overall in the condition of its infrastructure, with bridges in particular receiving the worst score of a D-. Age-wise, Hillside Avenue Bridge falls between the two largest categories of bridges in the state, 50 percent of which are 75-years-old and 400 of which in total are 100-years-old. According to ASCE’s report, only 10 percent of local bridges that were in need of repair were slated to receive updates. Sarnoff, who described the work as “straightforward” said he hopes that, with the help of state grants, construction on Hillside Avenue Bridge will be finished within a year. CONTACT: james@hometwn.com