Washington Avenue Bridge Construction Ended

After almost a year of construction, Washington Avenue will be open to two lane traffic on a new bridge crossing the Pascack Brook. This construction will greatly reduce the chances of accidents in bad weather when driving down the hill toward Pearl River. This project has taken 10 months and has taken some large oaks down from the front of the Beckerle property at the brook, and there is still a question as to the construction’s effect on the fishing this spring. The new construction should also reduce the brook’s flooding ability to local homes downstream from the bridge. In the 19th century this area was the property of a man named Soule. He was a business contemporary of Julius Braunsdorf and locals named the swimming hole under the bridge Soules’ Bathhouse. The original bridge was photographed by a summer visitor in 1891, and was known as the snake bridge due to the large number of snakes of many varieties sunning themselves on the bridge deck in the mornings. This new infrastructure should be welcomed by all Pearl River residents as improvements to the roadway in this area of town were much needed and monies were available from the Biden Administrations Infrastructure Act.