County profile · official public datasets

Ontario County, NY

178 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 40.4% rated Good, 51.7% Fair, 7.9% Poor.

178
Public bridges: 40.4%
Good condition: 7.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.

Ontario County posts a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

Top 37%
lowest Poor share in state: 7.9%
Poor-condition share: 178
public highway bridges: 1973
avg year built

Poor is an FHWA condition category from the lowest applicable component rating (4 or below), not a live crossing-safety or closure decision. Rankings cover counties with at least five public highway bridges.

Ontario County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Ontario County ranks #23 of 62 New York counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.9%). Ontario County, New York contains 178 public highway bridges. Roughly 40.4% are rated “Good,” 51.7% “Fair,” and 7.9% “Poor.” Poor means the lowest applicable deck, superstructure, substructure, or culvert rating is 4 or below on the 0–9 NBI scale. It is a condition category, not a live safety or closure decision.

Responsible agencies inspect covered bridges on risk-based intervals under current NBIS rules and submit inventory data to FHWA annually. The list below shows every NBI-tracked bridge in the county. Use the “Sort by” controls to change the ordering, and click any row for its reported inspection date, traffic count, and condition fields.

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory. See methodology for full definitions.

Total bridges

178

Public highway bridges in Ontario County

Good condition

40.4%

72 of 178 rated 7-9

Fair condition

51.7%

92 of 178 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.9%

14 of 178 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#23 of 62

Among New York counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 178 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

40.4% (72)

Fair

51.7% (92)

Poor

7.9% (14)

Ontario County's Poor-condition bridges carry 100,897 vehicle crossings a day

That is 7.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 7,207 crossings a day against 6,512 for a Good-condition one. A Poor rating is a condition category, not a closure or a live safety judgement; it means the lowest applicable component rating is 4 or below.

Computed over the 178 of 178 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

48.9% of Ontario County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

87 of the 178 bridges with a recorded construction year were built in 1974 or earlier. Age alone is not a defect: a well-maintained older bridge can rate Good, and 40.4% of this county's inventory does. Even so, this older cohort is the population from which future Poor ratings are drawn, which is why the age profile below matters alongside the condition split above.

Cutoff derives from the 2024 release year minus a 50-year design life. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

One structure carries 36.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

RTE I90 over CANANDAIGUA OUTLET, built 1953, carries 36,591 vehicles a day, the most of any Poor-rated structure here. The county's Poor-condition exposure is concentrated rather than evenly spread, so the 14-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 100,897 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

2
1920s

7
1930s

14
1940s

18
1950s

34
1960s

11
1970s

6
1980s

15
1990s

33
2000s

27
2010s

10
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 34 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the New York average (1972).

How Ontario County compares with New York's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 New York counties nearest Ontario County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.9% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1970 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 61 New York counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Ontario County and the 5 New York counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Cortland County	189	33.3%	49.7%	16.9%	1974
Franklin County	189	47.6%	40.7%	11.6%	1975
Washington County	189	36%	50.3%	13.8%	1960
Ontario County (this page)	178	40.4%	51.7%	7.9%	1973
Madison County	175	37.7%	53.7%	8.6%	1968
Schoharie County	174	37.4%	54.6%	8%	1972

Each share is of that county's own total tracked bridges; peers are the counties with 5 or more bridges whose inventory size is closest to Ontario County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Two NBI-derived peer sets for Ontario County, both outside New York so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NY (178 bridges here).

Allen County, LA · 178 bridges
Webster County, MS · 178 bridges
Clark County, MO · 178 bridges
Monroe County, MO · 178 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NY (1973 here).

Jefferson County, AL · avg 1973 · 1,068 bridges
Davidson County, TN · avg 1973 · 832 bridges
Lancaster County, PA · avg 1973 · 801 bridges
Sacramento County, CA · avg 1973 · 740 bridges

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.

All 178 Good 72 Fair 92 Poor 14

All bridges (178)

Sort:

Ontario County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Ontario County's Poor-condition bridges carry 100,897 vehicle crossings a day

48.9% of Ontario County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 36.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Ontario County compares with New York's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

All bridges (178)

TILEYARD ROAD

SLATE ROCK ROAD

RTE 5

JENKS ROAD

LOWER EGYPT ROAD

COUNTY ROAD 36

RTE I90

RTE 14

RTE 14

RTE 245

LEE ROAD

RTE I90

VOGT ROAD

RTE I90

RTE 245

RTE I90

MAIN ST FISHERS

RTE 5

RTE 245

LAKE TO LAKE ROAD

TAFT ROAD

RTE I90

RTE 245

RTE I90

COUNTY ROAD 4

RTE I90

STRYKER ROAD

RTE 5

BOOTH ROAD

BRACE ROAD

SENECA POINT ROAD

CLIFTON STREET

COUNTY ROAD 23

RTE I90

CR 28

RTE 245

RTE I90

Railroad Mills Roa

RTE I90

RTE I90

CR 25

RTE 65

BRISTOL STREET

RTE 21

RTE I90

WHEAT ROAD

PARRISH STREET

RTE 21

RTE 5

RTE I90

Related