Work on a $1.2 million restoration of the historic Platte Clove Bridge will likely begin next year, leaving residents of the hamlet of Platte Clove without access to the lower section of Platte Clove Road for the 2027 season, officials said.

Officials confirmed the timeline at a public information session at Hunter Town Hall on July 30, where Greene County Highway Superintendent Scott Templeton and project manager Shawn McAdoo of Albany-based engineering firm CDM Smith took questions from residents. The project will go out to bid later this year, pending design review by the state Department of Transportation. 

The state’s BridgeNY program covers most of the cost, with a $64,000 local match.

The 1895 stone arch bridge overlooking Bridal Veil Falls needed repairs for years because of shifting rocks and a crack in the bedrock that supports it. A 2021 county study confirmed the bridge had been shifting, particularly on its southern, downhill side. 

The county reduced the span to one lane last August. 

Preliminary repairs to the bridge began last year, and the full restoration project was initially expected to start this spring. A lengthy environmental review pushed the project to 2027, as the bridge is surrounded on nearly all sides by state land. 

“In order for us to get a permit to work on their property, we have to evaluate every single tree, an inch or larger,” Templeton said. 

Officials said they were trying to repair the bridge while preserving its historic character. 

“A lot of stone is loose,” McAdoo said. “It needs to be redone. They’ll remove what’s loose and replace the existing stone back.”

McAdoo said crews would put a concrete barrier faced with the existing stones.

The session drew over 40 people, most of them Platte Clove residents. Many said they were worried about losing access to Platte Clove Road, also known as the Back Mountain Road, for the 2027 summer season.

Platte Clove Road is a narrow, two-lane road climbing for roughly 9.6 miles along the Platte Clove’s north wall between Saugerties and Tannersville. It’s the only route through the clove. The section heading up the mountain is closed seasonally, generally from November until late April or early May.

Repairs are likely to begin when the seasonal section opens next spring and run until it closes in the fall. The gate that usually shuts the lower section in the winter will remain closed during the course of the repairs, forcing residents of Platte Clove to find other routes when traveling south to Saugerties or Woodstock. 

One resident, Jo Miller, brought a spreadsheet detailing what she expected the closure to cost her: $1,200 in fuel and wear and tear on her car. 

Miller also provided a map comparing the two routes. The drive from Saugerties from the Prediger Road area is 10.2 miles down Platte Clove Road. With the road closed, residents must go 21.4 miles through Tannersville and down state Route 23A through Haines Falls and Palenville before taking state Route 32 south.

“Every single day actually makes a big difference for us, if you live in Platte Clove, in terms of time and in terms of money,” she said. “This is imposing—not just an inconvenience—but an actual cost on everyone in this room to a greater or lesser extent.”

Miller said the closure, for tourists as well as residents, will push traffic onto other roadways and potentially lead to an increase in traffic and accidents.

“If it’s closed in the summer and 23A has to absorb summer traffic, it increases the accidents and closures on 23A,” she said. “It already did in May, because Saugerties wasn’t done with their work.”

The rehabilitation is needed despite residents’ concerns, said Greene County Legislator Daryl Legg, who represents Hunter, Lexington, and Halcott.

“Everybody has to realize with the road closed, construction is three times faster than it is to try and maintain traffic on a road by one lane,” he said. “It’s an inconvenience now for you for a year, that is true, but it’s better than being an inconvenience for three years.”

Connor Greco is a staff reporter for The Overlook covering Windham, Hunter, and surrounding Greene County communities. Send correspondence to connor@theoverlooknews.com.