The bridges are our home

To the editor:

The NY State Bridge Authority may only be a small part of the state government in New York, but there are so many that rely on it so they can safely cross the Hudson River on bridges that are kept in top ratings in the country and at a modest cost. Now the Bridge Authority faces its biggest threat. Andrew Cuomo wants to devour this beacon of efficiency in hopes of stealing the funds used for our Hudson Valley and fund the Mario Cuomo Bridge.

Mr. Driscoll and the Governor use words like “efficiency” which are words they wouldn’t recognize if it was staring them in the face.

Tolls will rise immediately and regularly as costs from projects outside the Hudson Valley become unaffordable. Now the Governor needs to bailout the Thruway again.

They say there are no plans to raise tolls, no plans to charge for the Walkway. These are the same people who allowed a bridge younger than our grandparents to fall into the river.

This merger is the kind of deal that emerges behind closed doors, Albany conferences, where somebody gets something and somebody gives something away. Well there is nothing that the Hudson Valley delegation can get that will match what it would be giving away by sacrificing the independence of the Bridge Authority. These are our bridges that we pay for not Albany! The hardworking every day people of the Hudson Valley reject this proposal.

Jeffrey Smith

Rhinebeck