Have You Noticed Something Beautiful is Missing From Mid Hudson Bridge?

One of the Hudson Valley's busiest bridges has been missing something for the last couple of weeks and many are wondering why.

Have you ever noticed that for most of us, there are certain things we notice almost every time we jump into our cars and drive to work or school every day? Most of us can close our eyes and picture in our heads specific things we see every day when we drive somewhere we drive every day, right? Go ahead and try it...you can probably picture the businesses you'll pass, certain houses, stop lights, and a bunch of other things but do you ever notice when something along your route changes?

Mid Hudson Bridge is Missing Something

If you do your driving when it's dark outside in the Poughkeepsie or Highland parts of the Hudson Valley, have you noticed that something has changed on the Mid Hudson Bridge? Last week while I was driving north on Route 9 near Vassar Hospital at around 8:30 p.m. I noticed that I couldn't see the Mid Hudson Bridge from the road anymore. Driving the same route a million times I remember always being able to see the bridge all lit up but that night it was completely dark, with no lights at all.

SEE ALSO: The Hudson Valley's Worst Bridges to Drive Across Are?

At first, I thought maybe they were just off for the night but after waiting over a week and checking again last night it appears that the beautiful lights that once outlined the Mid-Hudson bridge are no longer working. We reached out to the New York State Bridge Authority to ask why the lights were no longer working and haven't heard back yet but according to a few friends on social media, it appears the lights aren't coming back anytime soon.

Colorful Lights Disappear from Mid Hudson Bridge

One friend posted that they spoke to someone at the Bridge Authority who told them that the lights were malfunctioning so they were removed and are being serviced. They were told that the lights would hopefully be back in operation sometime closer to spring. The friend also reminded me that it was reported last year that the lights on the bridge were supposed to be replaced so it's unclear if the the lights that were malfunctioning were new or old. As I mentioned above we did reach out to the Bridge Authority for more clarity on the light situation but haven't heard back yet, when we do we will update this article.

UPDATE! New York Bridge Authority Gives Light Explanation on Mid-Hudson Bridge

We just heard back from the Bridge Authority today (1/4) who told us,

"There is an issue with some of the necklace lights on the bridge. We started replacing fixtures last year on the light system, which was originally installed in 2001. However, some of these new lights were not functioning as intended. Unfortunately, we do not currently have a timeline for when they will be back on. We are working with our contractor to implement solutions so that all of the lights can function properly and illuminate the bridge."