Nearly four years after it was abruptly shut down over safety concerns, Kingston’s iconic Wurts Street Bridge is again open to pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The reopening on Monday comes after a two-year $44.6 million refurbishment project that replaced nearly every major component in the 103-year-old span over the Rondout Creek which connects Kingston and Port Ewen. Local elected officials including U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado were on hand for an invitation-only ceremony to celebrate the completion of the restoration project.

“The restoration of the Wurts Street Bridge will provide stronger transportation, improve resiliency and enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors for years to come,” said Delgado who represented Kingston in Congress before being tapped as the state’s second-highest ranking elected official. “The re-opening of this historic bridge demonstrates our investment in our infrastructure that will support our local communities and help New Yorkers get where they need to go quickly and safely.”

The suspension bridge, officially called the Kingston-Port Ewen Suspension Bridge and designed by the same engineering firm that planned out the Brooklyn Bridge, opened in 1921 after a lengthy delay caused by a wartime steel shortage. It replaced a “Skillypot” ferry which for generations was the primary route between Kingston and Esopus. In the 1980s, the span was largely superseded by the construction of the Frank Koenig Bridge which connected Route 9W on both sides of the creek. As a secondary route, and the only steel suspension bridge in the state Department of Transportation’s portfolio, for decades the Wurts Street Bridge languished from a lack of funding and expertise until September 2020 when DOT inspectors ordered it closed to all traffic, citing serious concerns about its structural integrity.

There followed a debate about whether to invest millions in refurbishing the bridge, allowing it to remain closed or reinventing the span as a pedestrian walkway. Then-assemblyman Kevin Cahill, a longtime champion of the bridge, worked to secure funding for a full restoration, which commenced in October 2021. The project involved the replacement of the bridge deck, cables and other components, as well as upgrades like a higher weight limit, wider sidewalks for better pedestrian access and decorative lighting. The project was funded with a mix of state and federal funds including money from the massive 2021 infrastructure bill known as the Inflation Reduction Act.

“That bridge holds a very special place in the hearts of people here, and talking to the workers it was clear that it became something special to them too, so I’m very happy,” said Cahill, who now serves as a commissioner for the New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal. “And the fact that its stronger and better now than when it opened is just remarkable.”