Madison County roads engineer cites $1.5M bridge grant and critical staffing shortages

Madison County’s roads engineer told the Board of Supervisors the county was awarded up to $1.5 million in a state/city bridge grant and provided an update on maintenance projects and staffing challenges.

Mike Hackett reported that he submitted an application through a city allocation for a through-route bridge project (a joint project with the city of Paterson) and was notified the county could receive "up to $1,500,000" toward replacement work; he said the county will perform the work because the route is maintained by the county. Hackett also updated the board on the Pitcher Bridge and Cummings Road projects, noting paving is complete but shoulder and finishing work remain.

Hackett emphasized staffing pressures: he said the department currently has two open positions, that "we've lost 24 employees in the past 5 years," and that winter and equipment maintenance put additional strain on operations. He discussed the high cost of modern maintainers (sticker prices cited in the discussion), long procurement and easement timelines for bridge projects (he estimated such projects can take multiple years from agreements to completion) and constraints on local road funding tied to state road-use tax formulas and levy caps.

Next steps: the roads office will continue project closeout efforts and return to the board with budget and staffing data as part of upcoming budget discussions.