BRIGHTON, N.Y. — The concrete bridges that carry Route590 over Monroe Avenue in Brighton have been crumbling for years, but now there’s finally a plan in place to replace them.

News10NBC Investigative Reporter Jennifer Lewke has been looking into the safety of those bridges. On Tuesday, she spoke with the regional director of the New York State Department of Transportation to get a timetable on when construction will begin and what drivers in that area can expect.

News10NBC gets a lot of emails and phone calls from people who travel in this area often. It’s hard not to notice just how bad these bridges look — huge chunks of concrete have fallen, rebar is exposed all over the place, and they just generally look to be in really rough shape.

For years, the DOT has told Lewke the bridges are safe, despite what they look like. But they have stepped up inspections.

“We inspect it, it’s being inspected right now, it started two weeks ago so we’ll go through it, fine-tooth comb — make sure everything is safe for the traveling public. And bottom line, if it’s not, we would take steps to make sure that it is, whether it’s repairs, or even closing a structure. We’re not in that realm for this bridge,” said Chris Reeve, regional director of NYSDOT.

Reeve did confirm a $55 million replacement project will begin here next spring. Both bridges that carry 590 over Monroe will be replaced, and the 590 bridge over Allens Creek Road will be rehabilitated.

Thousands of people travel in this area every single day, so you’ll have to plan ahead.

Jennifer Lewke, News10NBC: “How do you plan to accommodate traffic, in that area, at that time?”

Chris Reeve, NYSDOT: “The planning process is extensive, we start to work on preliminary engineering usually about three years in advance. In this case, there will be lane reductions in both directions so we can give the workers space to work, there will be ramp closures as well so it’ll be an impact, the project will take about three years. The majority of the impact is in the second and third year.”

If you travel in this area now, you know it can get very congested so, during the bridge replacement it’s bound to get worse — but it all comes down to safety. If you don’t want the bridge continuing to deteriorate, the work has to be done.

A.I. assisted with the formatting of this story. Click here to see how WHEC News 10 uses A.I.