Prepare for Traffic Nightmare in Dutchess County on Friday

A number of popular roads will be closed in Dutchess County during rush hour on Friday.

In a newsletter, City of Poughkeepsie mayor Rob Rolison warned drivers to expect traffic in the City of Poughkeepsie from 1:15 p.m. until 9 p.m.

Starting at 1:15 p.m. Friday, the east side lanes on Market Street, from Church Street to Main Street, will be closed to all cars. Only one lane on the west side will be open to traffic.

Starting at 4:15 p.m. all of Market Street will be closed to traffic until the end of the First Friday event.

The First Friday event begins at 5 p.m., which will lead to roads closures from Church St-Arterial eastbound to the Main Street Court House.

Starting at 5:15 p.m., additional city street closures will occur on Main, Academy and Cannon Streets. The roads will remain closed until the end of the Think DIFFERENTLY Dash and Queen City Mile races.

The races start at the front of 22 Market Street and continues onto Academy Street and Cannon Street.

Runners will loop around the blocks. The Think DIFFERENTLY Dash is one loop around and the Queen City Mile will be two loops around.

Meanwhile, the Dutchess County Department of Public Works announced work will begin this week to repair the Beekman Road bridge in East Fishkill. The bridge, which averages approximately 9,100 vehicles per day, is located at the intersection of Old Sylvan Lake Road and the Taconic State Parkway northbound. The project is anticipated to be complete by December.

Motorists are advised to plan for additional travel time and exercise extra caution while driving across the bridge.