Officials call for fixes to Medford bridge

Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone Monday called for improvements to be made to a deteriorating Medford bridge -- a structure they said illustrates the need for more federal highway funds.

The Horseblock Road bridge, built in 1940 and rated "structurally deficient" according to federal standards, is one of the most deficient in Suffolk but is not scheduled for repairs until 2015, the officials said.

Bishop released a statement that said the bridge shows that "a long-term highway bill that honestly accounts for the nation's infrastructure needs would help state, county, and local Departments of Transportation perform the work necessary to keep motorists safe."

The bridge, which Bishop said is "visibly rusted, pitted, and corroded," crosses over Long Island Avenue and Long Island Rail Road tracks.

Bishop, who sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, called on his colleagues to work on a bipartisan highway bill. Bishop, Bellone and Long Island Contractors' Association executive director Marc Herbst spoke Monday in a news conference under the bridge.

Bellone said he agreed that the county could use more federal help on road and infrastructure projects. He added that the planned 2015 work on the Horseblock Road bridge is jeopardized by lack of funding.

"There's a multiplier effect that happens when you invest in transportation infrastructure and if the federal government is making the investment here, we will use those investments to grow the economy here in Suffolk County and put people back to work," Bellone said.

Citing nearby construction equipment brought by the contractors' association, Bishop said: "This equipment shouldn't be here, it should be on the job site. And if we can get this transportation bill passed, this equipment will be on a job site. The sooner we can do that, the better off we are from several different vantage points."