Capital Program Overview
Smart, Strategic and Timely
Based on performance, the New York State Thruway Authority is recognized for safety and reliability. This is in part due to the hundreds of millions of dollars in annual capital investments funded by toll revenues. These investments apply an Asset Management approach that strategically prioritizes infrastructure needs and evolving demands, The Thruway is focused on ensuring that every dollar is invested efficiently and effectively.
Constructed mainly during the 1950’s, the Thruway’s infrastructure is aging while facing accelerated deterioration due to heavy truck traffic, corrosion from road salt, and multiple freeze-thaw cycles caused by frequent and intense weather systems. To date, only 10% of the original pavement has been reconstructed, while approximately 80% of Thruway bridges are more than 60 years old and nearing the end of their service life. To face these challenges, the Thruway used predictive modeling and performance based planning to optimize the timing and types of investment it makes in its infrastructure, taking a forward thinking approach to keep its system safe and operational well into the future.
Replacement of the North Avenue Bridge Over I-95 in New Rochelle
This project will replace the North Avenue bridge in the city of New Rochelle. The bridge is located above a section of the New England Thruway (I-95). Approximately 20,000 vehicles use the North Avenue bridge daily.
Thruway Roads
The Thruway’s 570 centerline miles were constructed of concrete slabs, which over time were overlayed with asphalt. The vast majority of this composite pavement system is still structurally supported by the original 65-plus year old concrete and base materials. The condition of these, as well as the below soil and drainage systems, must be accounted for when determining the appropriate project type to keep the roadway from falling into poor condition.
The top layers of this composite system are newer, with 23% of the total system having a wearing surface being less than 2 years in age.
Figure 1. Pavement surface age of the New York State Thruway network as of Spring 2025
Inspecting Roads
Each roadway section is inspected annually using specialized equipment to measure ride quality and its surface condition is evaluated from photographs of the pavement surface. Based on these inspections and measurements, condition ratings are developed to represent each roadway section.
Ride Quality
The International Roughness Index (IRI) characterizes how smooth or rough the road rides. Recorded in inches per mile, it is measured using laser profilometry by a specialized Automated Road Analyzer (ARAN) vehicle traveling at highway speeds. Based on IRI standards for U.S. Interstate-style roadways, 79 percent of the Thruway is rated Good or Very Good (Figure 2).
Figure 2. International Roughness Index for the New York State Thruway network measured in Fall 2024.
Lane Distress Index (LDI)
Lane Distress Index (LDI) characterizes the extent of pavement surface damage over the travel lanes. Measured on a scale of 0 to 100, a lower value corresponds to more frequent surface distresses such as cracks and potholes. Each year, high definition digital imagery of the roadway is captured at 20-foot intervals and evaluated by trained personnel on a mile-by-mile basis. The LDI for each mile is then averaged over specific Thruway planning segments, which vary in length from 1 to 15 miles long. Figure 4 shows the average Thruway pavement surface condition based on this measurement is characterized as Fair or better (70), with 42 percent of this pavement road rated Good or Excellent
Figure 3. Typical image of the pavement surface from a highway segment with a Lane Distress Index rated “Fair” due to the presence of significant cracking across the highway, between the lanes, and along the right edge of the travel lane.
Figure 4. Lane Distress Index for the entire New York State Thruway network measured in Spring 2025
Pavement Asset Management
Pavement Asset Management focuses on prioritization and timing of capital investment across the Thruway’s 78 planning segments to optimize pavement condition. It also includes selecting the appropriate roadway treatment, which ranges from surface-level mill and inlays to deeper treatments such as cracking and seating or full reconstruction.
Additionally, a maintenance and capital project history is also kept for each planning segment to help guide future decision-making.
Bridge Asset Management System
The Bridge Asset Management System is designed to reflect the unique characteristics of the Thruway system of bridges; it contains objective, coherent and integrated decision-making processes which are data driven and replicable. Comparable data for each of the 819 Thruway bridges is analyzed in detail by a multi-disciplinary team to determine the type of work needed to keep the structures safe and in serviceable condition. By incorporating 30 years of inspection data, inventory data, structural details and vulnerabilities, highway safety data and capital and maintenance history with operational concerns for each bridge, this information can be used to develop and prioritize Capital Projects, as well as establish long-range plans for each structure. The goal of the Bridge Asset Management System is to establish long term programmatic planning by maximizing the remaining safe service life of the Thruway bridge population, while addressing non-condition related vulnerabilities. Each bridge receives a thorough diagnosis of its history, structural condition, design details and operational needs.
Thruway Bridges
The Thruway Authority owns and maintains 819 bridges with an average age of 58 years old. These bridges include signature structures such as the Grand Island, Castleton, and Governor Mario M. Cuomo bridges, as well as more common steel multi-girder bridges.
The Thruway is committed to providing safe and reliable bridges that are critical to the continuity of the Thruway system.
Figure 5. Age of Thruway bridges in Spring 2025
Inspecting Bridges
All Thruway bridges are inspected on at least a biennial basis in accordance with National Bridge Inspection Standards and the New York Uniform Code of Bridge Inspection. These inspections include both an AASHTO element level evaluation with detailed data and condition descriptions, as well as component level evaluation that is reported as part of the National Bridge Inventory.
Bridge Conditions
In addition to a quantitative evaluation of each individual element of the bridge, the lead inspector assigns a General Recommendation. This rating is the inspector’s assessment of the overall bridge condition. Maximum weight is given to the bridge elements of most importance. The 1 to 7 scale is summarized in Figure 6. The General Recommendations for the Thruway’s bridges are summarized in Figure 7.
Figure 6. Summary of General Recommendation ratings
Over 50% of the Thruway’s bridges are rated as having primary members and substructures in good condition but with other parts of the structure potentially needing extensive repairs.
Figure 7. General Recommendations for the Thruway’s bridges at the end of 2024
After accounting for improvements planned within the current 5-year capital program, the average condition of Thruway bridges is expected to decrease incrementally each year.
Figure 8. Trends in the condition of the Thruway’s bridges as measured by the network average General Recommendation.
Figure 9. Overhead bridge at exit 37 near Syracuse at MP 283.79. (Top picture) is the original structure (built in 1954) shown in 2019, when it was rated during inspection with a General Recommendation of 3. (Bottom picture) is the replacement structure built in 2020, rated during inspection with a General Recommendation of 7.
Capital Improvement Projects Throughout Our System
All of our capital projects are closely monitored to ensure that they remain on schedule and on budget. As we continue to make capital improvements throughout our system, we are committed to maintaining the high level of safety and reliability that our customers have come to expect from us.