Recently, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the completion of a $23 million project by the NYSDOT in the Mount Tremper Bridge. It’s the most recent facelift from the organization that is focused of resiliency in infrastructure as it combats climate change.

Originally built in the 1960s, this gateway to the Catskills was not able to withstand the increasingly severe rainfall. In 2011, Hurricane Irene crushed the region, shutting the bridge down for two days, and cutting off towns like Phoenicia to emergency medical services, relief, and resources used on a daily basis.

“It’s a critical piece of transportation infrastructure here in the Catskills, and when people couldn’t get to their jobs and their homes, it really provided a huge barrier,” said NYSDOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez.

Tim Malloy was one of those people. His family has lived in the homes right next to the Mount Tremper Bridge for 30 years, but none really compare to the night in 2011 that Hurricane Irene dumped water on the area.

“You could hear the boulders coming down the creek,” said Malloy, at the time a member of the town board. “That‘s when you know it was really coming down fast. When you start hearing that, you know you’re in trouble.”

The Malloys evacuated their house and came back the next day. What they found the next day left them stunned.

“We had a garden here, and that just washed out,” said Malloy.

They came back to a house that was relatively unharmed, but their front yard said otherwise.

“It came right up to the gate, right here and stopped … we were really lucky,” said Malloy.

Their neighbors closer to the bridge didn’t see the same luck. Their homes were flooded, forcing them to either relocate their homes up the hill, or accept a buyout and move elsewhere.

“The bridge was destroyed. I mean, it was just demolished. It hit it, and it just became like a dam,” said Malloy.

Because of the severe rainfall in a short window, the bridge was not high enough to accommodate debris and rising water levels. That resulted in severe backup of the Esopus Creek and flooding north of the bridge.

The bridge has been raised 10 feet, extended 500 feet, and the abutments are spread out so that debris can easily clear the roadway. The DOT has taken the approach of accommodating possible effects of climate change and the severe rainfall that has come with it.

“We created a large floodplain … it allows the water and creek to absorb it naturally,” said Dominguez. “Those natural features are critical to resiliency.”

Malloy has already seen improvements to the Mount Tremper Bridge in action after a storm.

“The floodplain right here, it was almost like a little lake right here,” explains Malloy. “The water came in and it just sat here. By the next day, it was gone. I mean, that proved it right there; it actually works.”