Bayville Bridge Closed – Again – For Two Months

By Thomas Nothel

The Bayville Bridge was again closed to vehicle traffic, starting at 7am on February 14th, in order for more repairs to be done to the Bridge – but the new repairs are promised to take only two months.

The Bridge is scheduled to reopen to vehicle traffic in about 30 days. The drawbridge was closed to marine traffic on January 9, 2023 and is now “scheduled to reopen” on April 9, 2023.

The Bridge was damaged by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Repairs were then made to the Bridge, but this did not resolve the long term mechanical and structural issues of the Bridge – which was built in 1938.

The Bayville Bridge is one of only two land connections between Bayville and Centre Island and the mainland. The Bridge connects eastern Bayville to Mill Neck and West Shore Drive which connects to Oyster Bay. The other land link is at the extreme western end of Bayville, which connects to Lattingtown and Locust Valley.

In 2016 The Nassau County Department of Public Works began a project to rehabilitate the Bridge. Engineering Firm LKB was selected by Nassau County to provide design and construction support services for the project.

For two years, the bridge was either closed – or reduced to an alternating one lane that produced long traffic jams, throughout 2020 and 2021.

“Enough is enough,” stated one irate Bayville resident. “How much more do we have to take. And how long are we going to be lied to ?”

The LKB firm now states that most of the structural and site work has been completed, and the new mechanical and electrical equipment installation is expected to be completed over the next month.

The finally complete bridge is scheduled to be fully operational before the 2023 summer season begins.

Residents, businesses and visitors to Bayville have been greatly inconvenienced by the Bridge closures and malfunctions. Bayville and Centre Island residents are now forced to drive an extra 6 miles through winding local roads in Lattingtown and Mill Neck to get to Oyster Bay.

Hopefully the completion of the rehabilitation project will happen – and will have the Bayville Bridge working for many years.