Shore up the Nassau County Bridge Authority

After Googling “how many bridges are there in Nassau County NY,” the first response is a Wikipedia page that lists 10.

Four are owned and maintained by the state’s transportation department, and three are owned by the county and maintained by its public works department. One is owned and maintained by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, another state entity, while another is owned by the MTA’s Long Island Rail Road.

Then there is the Atlantic Beach Bridge. It’s overseen by an entity called the Nassau County Bridge Authority, a politically appointed five-person board that leads a team that includes an executive director, a deputy manager, a maintenance supervisor, an information technology manager, maintenance personnel, toll takers and a legal firm.

That’s a lot of people overseeing a single bridge. But let’s give credit where credit is due. At 1,173 feet, the drawbridge sees roughly 20,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day, according to the state transportation department, connecting Atlantic Beach village and the rest of the barrier island — including Long Beach — with the mainland of Long Island. It also serves as emergency evacuation route in case of severe storms.

Both communities are very popular summer destinations as several beach clubs line Atlantic Beach’s shoreline, and Long Beach is known for its boardwalk and nightlife.

The original Atlantic Beach Bridge opened in 1927, and the current bridge opened 25 years later. In 1945, the state legislature created the NCBA to manage the bridge.

It is a huge job.

A $19 million project completed in 2000 reconstructed approaching roadways and replaced the existing concrete bridge deck. All of this brought the Atlantic Beach Bridge into compliance with federal standards.

In 2011, the interior mechanical part of the bridge — “its guts” — underwent a nearly $9 million overhaul. There was a roughly $10 million project completed in 2018 to rehabilitate the porous grid part of the road that opens to allow boats through.

That’s a lot to take care of. That is why so much more care should be taken by the Nassau County Bridge Authority.

Allegations of patronage and proven mismanagement has haunted several previous boards. A state audit covering a period between 1994 and 1997 found that 71 percent of the bridge’s budget was earmarked for personnel, while the authority failed to seek competitive bids for engineering work and other service.

Although E-ZPass has been around for 30 years, previous NCBA boards and executive directors have resisted the clarion call to install the technology and replace the existing toll booths.

A previous bridge authority board made a half-hearted attempt at involving the public in the process of reimagining the bridge’s toll plaza last year. It is was also the first time the public learned the NCBA was considering installing E-ZPass. The 12-member Citizens’ Committee was disbanded after two meetings.

Later in 2022, under a new board chair and a new executive director, the first toll hikes in 15 years were instituted. But this time it would indeed come with E-ZPass.

The toll uptick created controversy as the new administration claimed the NCBA lost nearly $1 million in the past three years, while people familiar with the finances said the authority had more than a $5 million surplus in the same time period.

To exacerbate the problem, the NCBA continues to hold meetings that squeeze the public into a small downstairs room, streaming the upstairs portion of the meeting, while calling people one by one up those stairs. Earlier this year, the board was found in violation by the state’s Authorities Budget Office of not posting meeting agendas, schedules and minutes. Now they are.

Current NCBA leadership is not doing enough to tamp down public opposition to the toll hikes, the lack of transparency, and the lengthening waiting for E-ZPass to be installed. The anger has led to the creation of two online petitions.

The Nassau County Bridge Authority should immediately improve its governance by ensuring meetings are open and accessible to all attendees and be more transparent. If not, then it’s time for this organization to be disbanded with the responsibility for the Atlantic Beach Bridge placed under the county’s highway and public works department.

That works for three other bridges in Nassau County — why not for the Atlantic Beach Bridge, too?