Mission Statement

This Department is Responsible For the administrative duties to ensure that All Highway, Facilities And Park Divisions daily operations are conducted in a RESPONSIVE and EFFICIENT manner.

Contact Department of Public Works (DPW)

Thomas Feighery

Director

Department of Public Works (DPW)

Services Offered

Automotive Maintenance

The Automotive Division of Putnam County maintains a fleet of over 300, vehicles not counting vehicle attachments, small engine tools and mowers. Our qualified mechanics weld, do bodywork, paint, diagnose and repair. These vehicles include the Sheriff Department’s unmarked and marked patrol units, Department of Social Services, Office for the Aging buses, Health Department vehicles, as well as the Highway Department’s heavy equipment to name a few.
Along with doing major repairs, our Division is accountable for performing the preventative maintenance on these vehicles on a regular basis. We have NYS Certified inspectors on staff assuring our vehicles meet the safety standards set by New York State. Our dedicated employees are willing to respond to any problems 24 hours a day, 7 days a week which giving all County employees the security in knowing that help is just a phone call away.

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Facilities

The Fiscal Division is directly involved with all aspects of Highways & Facilities that relate to funding issues. Annual operating and on-going capital project budgets are prepared. The Highway Department administers all major capital construction projects and most Federal Highway Administration/New York State construction projects on County roads and bridges. The Highway Department also administers many facility construction projects that involve grant reimbursement from various other agencies. These road, bridge and facility construction projects require that we work with Law, Audit, Finance, Purchasing and Personnel at the County level and the Department of Transportation & Emergency Management, at the State level. For specific type grants, we work with the Governor’s Office for Small Cities and the Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation in Albany and the Office of Housing & Urban Development in Washington, DC.

Our dedicated Fiscal Staff contributes greatly to keeping the department running smoothly.

Click to View Contracts

Planning & Design (Engineering)

The Division of Planning & Design provides engineering, planning and technical support services for the Department of Highways and Facilities. These services include engineering and architectural design, land surveying, generation of contract and bid documents (including drafting of plans), construction support and inspection, and contract administration. It is the Division’s responsibility to deliver these services in a professional manner that ensures quality and economy in the designed project.

Additional duties of the Division include administering the County’s highway work permit program, pavement and bridge management systems, and traffic count program;

Maintenance of the Division’s maps, drawings, records and aerial photography; research for Freedom of Information requests and litigation cases; and coordination with the Department’s design consultants.

Pothole Reporting Form

There are various types of street defects but the most common are cave-ins/sinkholes, cracking, drainage issues and potholes:

Cave-ins/Sinkholes-Depressions within the surface of the roadway typically caused by undermining
Cracking -Cracks along the surface of the roadway that penetrate through the asphalt layer
Drainage Issues -Water remaining on the roadway that fails to drain properly through normal means
Potholes -Bowl-shaped or irregular shaped holes in the asphalt layer of the roadway

Click to Report a Street Defect

Projects

Click here to see the current projects that we are working on.

Road Maintenance & Construction

The Construction and Maintenance Division is comprised of workers ranging from laborers to heavy equipment operators. This Division is responsible for over 200 miles of roads from the Hudson River to the Connecticut border. These faithful employees will respond on a moments notice to any emergency situation which might occur on our highways 24 hours a day 7 days a week. In conjunction with snow and ice removal, these workers maintain the roadways by installing drainage pipes and basins, repairing guide rail, cutting and trimming roadside vegetation and many other projects.

This Division is appreciative to have these dedicated workers on its staff to serve the motoring public of Putnam County.

Sign Shop

The Putnam County Sign Shop’s number one priority is maintaining the traffic signals along with regulatory and warning signs on the County’s 117.77 miles of roads. With our state of the art Sign Shop we fabricate all the signs needed to ensure the pedestrian / motoring public that travels through Putnam County the highest quality of reflective signs available.

We also maintain all the pavement markings on our road system. Together with stop bars, railroad crossings, crosswalks, etc. We are also responsible for keeping all our facilities parking lots marked and in accordance with ADA standards.

We manufacture and apply various decals for a wide range of applications from Police vehicles to window directories. Our responsibility includes signage of all the buildings owned by Putnam County. Our signs are in compliance with ADA and we have the capability fabricating our own Braille signs.
In an effort to conserve resources we work in partnership with our Towns and Villages within our county and supply them with their sign needs in a timely manner.
In partnership with our Towns and Villages, our goal is to provide the motoring public a safe journey through Putnam County.

County Roads

Current Road Closures

Current list of partial county road closures that remain in effect

Due to inclement weather, the fair Street paving Project has been postponed until Tuesday 9/19/2023. Paleen Construction Corp. will be performing road paving repairs on Fair Street in Carmel NY, There will be lane closures from the intersection at Vink Drive to the intersection at Waring Drive. The work will start after 9 am, to not interfere with the start of the school day and the project will be complete by early afternoon. Please be cognizant of the work zone traffic and control measures in place and obey the personnel responsible for enforcing them. The work is expected to be finished the same day. Expect Delays. Thank you for your patience in this matter.
September 14th , starting at 6pm DPW crews will be performing emergency repairs on Peekskill Hollow Rd, There will be a full road closure for several hours starting at 7pm to work on a Culvert in the stretch of road between Church Rd and Tinker Hill. Please be cognizant of the work zone traffic and control measures in place and obey the personal responsible for enforcing them. The repairs will be complete by the end of the evening. Thank you for your patience in this matter.

Alternative routes:
Non-Commercial traffic - Tinker Hill, to Oscawana Lake Rd, to Church Rd

Commercial Traffic - Wiccoppe Rd, to Oscawana Heights Rd, to Oscawana Lake Rd, to Church Rd
Monday 9/25/2023, DPW crews will be preforming Drainage work along Secor Rd. (Weather Permitting)

for details about State road closures, visit 511ny.org by clicking here.

CLICK TO VIEW LARGER MAP

Road Permits

Are planning to do any work on or along a County road?

If you are planning to do any work on or along a County road, you must first obtain a permit from the Putnam County Department of Public Works (DPW).

To obtain a permit, you must provide the Department with the following Items:

two completed copies of the “Application for Permit to Do Work on and Within a County Road Area”, both signed by the person or entity that will provide the security money. The signatures must be notarized.
a map or plan(s) of the project, if applicable
permit fee (cash, money order, or check. Checks must be certified or bank check, made payable to the “Commissioner of Finance, Putnam County”. No personal checks.)
certificate of insurance from the person or
entity actually performing the work
security (cash, bond, money order, or check. Checks must be certified or bank check, made payable to the “Commissioner of Finance, Putnam County”. No personal checks.) This will be returned upon satisfactory completion of the work

Upon receipt of Items 1 through 4, the application will be reviewed by our Engineering staff. Applications will be reviewed in the order that they are received. The length of the review process is dependent on the work load of the Engineering staff, so please plan your work schedule accordingly.

Upon completion of the review (which includes at least one site inspection), and if Items 1 through 4 are satisfactory, the amount of the security (Item 5) will be determined by the Engineering staff based on the amount and scope of the work planned. If any of Items 1 through 4 are not satisfactory, the applicant will be notified of the corrections or changes that must be made.

When all five Items have been received and are satisfactory, the applicant will receive one of the original applications, signed by the Commissioner of Public Works (DPW), which serves as the Permit. No work can begin until the applicant receives the signed application.