§ 359 — Construction, reconstruction and improvement

New York § 359

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law PBA: Public Authorities
• Title 9: New York State Thruway Authority
• Art. 2: Park, Parkway and Highway Authorities

Text

§ 359. Construction, reconstruction and improvement. 1. On assuming\njurisdiction of a thruway section or connection or any part thereof, or\nof a highway connection, the authority shall proceed with the\nconstruction, reconstruction or improvement thereof. All such work shall\nbe done pursuant to a contract or contracts which shall be let to the\nlowest responsible bidder, by sealed proposals publicly opened, after\npublic advertisement and upon such terms and conditions as the authority\nshall require; provided, however, that the authority may reject any and\nall proposals and may advertise for new proposals, as herein provided,\nif in its opinion, the best interests of the authority will thereby be\npromoted; provided further, however, that at the request of the\nauthority, all or any portion of such work, together with any\nengineering required by the authority in connection therewith, shall be\nperformed by the commissioner and his subordinates in the department of\ntransportation as agents for, and at the expense of, the authority. A\nsealed proposal may be accepted through an electronic platform\nestablished or used by the authority, provided that any sealed proposal\nreceived electronically shall be made public at the same time as any\ncompeting paper proposal, and provided further that the authority shall,\nat minimum, provide the same opportunity and time for submitting sealed\nproposals physically as for sealed proposals submitted electronically,\nand shall provide the opportunity for bidders to submit sealed proposals\nphysically any time that it provides the opportunity to submit sealed\nelectronic proposals. In addition, the authority shall establish a\nprocess for accommodating force majeure events that prevent the\nsubmission of a sealed electronic proposal, including but not limited to\ninternet and power outage events, and for automatically confirming\nreceipt of any sealed electronic proposal received. All bidders shall be\nnotified of the time and place of any such adjournment or rejection.\n 2. All construction, reconstruction and improvements and any\nengineering work required in connection therewith which are performed on\nbehalf of the authority by the commissioner shall be carried on,\ngenerally, in the same manner and subject to the same provisions of law\nas apply to the construction and improvement of state highways.\n 3. Highway and railroad grade crossings shall in general be separated\nby structures to be determined by the authority, and the authority is\nhereby authorized to combine or relocate intersecting highways, to\nadjust traffic to such grade separation structures, except that the\ngrade crossing elimination structures involved in public service\ncommission cases number fifty-four hundred seventy-two and nine thousand\nfifty-eight shall remain under the jurisdiction of such commission. The\ncost of all such structures, except such part as is otherwise payable,\nshall be borne by the authority. Telephone and telegraph wires, power\ntransmission and gas, oil and water lines, conduits, cables of every\nkind and nature, which may be affected by thruway construction,\nreconstruction or improvement, may, in the discretion of the authority,\nbe relocated in suitable facilities and the expense of such relocation\nand of installing such facilities shall be borne by the authority. The\nwork of such relocation may be done by the owner of such wires, lines,\nconduits and cables, and the authority is hereby empowered to enter into\nan agreement with such owner for the performance of all or any part of\nthe work of such relocations at the expense of the authority.\n 4. In the case of a separation of a grade crossing pursuant to the\npreceding subdivision, the structure shall be maintained and repaired by\nthe authority. Whenever the authority determines that a separation\nstructure carrying a highway under the jurisdiction of a municipality\nrequires major repair or reconstruction, the authority, with the\napproval of the commissioner of transportation and after consultation\nwith such municipality, may close the bridge and provide adequate\nalternative detour routing and signing. In the case of municipal\nhighways, the responsibility for rehabilitation and reconstruction of\nthe wearing surface, sidewalks, curbs and railings shall be the\nresponsibility of the authority. Highways combined, relocated or carried\nover or under a thruway section or connection, or a highway connection,\nunder the provisions of the preceding subdivision, shall, upon\ncompletion of the work, revert to and become the responsibility, with\nregard to maintenance and repair, of the state or municipality, as the\ncase may be, formerly having jurisdiction there over.\n