ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. — Erie County officials on Oct. 23 announced the completion of the Sharp Street Bridge project in Springville, a $1.8 million effort that replaced a 97-year-old span and reconfigured the nearby roadway to improve safety and winter maintenance.
Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz joined Public Works Commissioner Bill Geary and Deputy Commissioner for Highways Karen Hoak at the bridge to review the work.
“Bridge infrastructure is particularly expensive and the Sharp Street Bridge is an example of that, a $1.8 million investment to replace the old bridge and improve the roadway for motorists and snowplows. Mother Nature is not kind to our roads and bridges, and this bridge had seen a lot of wear and tear in its nearly 100-year life,” Poloncarz said. “Today it is completely replaced with a new bridge, designed for smoother traffic flow and with a reconfigured roadway that’s safer and easier to plow.”
County officials said the old structure was a two-span concrete slab bridge built in 1929 that had been rated “3” in 2025 and had a history of flags for deteriorating concrete, particularly at the fascias. Temporary concrete barriers and a steel plate over a hole in the deck were installed to keep the bridge open without reducing its load posting further.
The new structure is a single-span prestressed concrete slab bridge with an increased span to better accommodate traffic flow. County funding also paid to remove an S-curve south of the bridge that had been installed for a previous railroad crossing; officials said that change makes the roadway safer to drive and easier to plow and realigned the Erie–Cattaraugus Rail Trail crossing to be perpendicular to the road.
The project contractor was Union Concrete and Construction Corp., and the design engineer was GPI, which completed construction-phase engineering services. For more information on the Department of Public Works, visit the county’s DPW site: https://www3.erie.gov/dpw/.
