Living near a superhighway can be convenient, but it's also can be unhealthy. Noise pollution and air emissions can lead to a shorter lifespan. The greatest impacts of highway pollution are felt by people who live, work, or recreate within 1,000 feet of a limited-access road.

Data Source: Open Street Map, Motorway and Motorway_Links, with a 1,000 feet buffer.

This map shows the average of bridge ratings for most towns in New York State. Some of the towns are lacking data or did not match when I completed the data join yesterday.

In New York State, bridge inspectors assess all of a bridge’s individual parts. They are required to evaluate, assign a condition score, and document the condition of up to 47 structural elements, including rating 25 components of each span of a bridge, in addition to general components common to all bridges. The NYSDOT condition rating scale ranges from 1 to 7, with 7 being in new condition and a rating of 5 or greater considered as good condition.

NYSDOT also computes an overall New York State condition rating for each bridge by combining the ratings of individual components using a weighted average formula. This formula assigns greater weights to the ratings of the bridge elements having the greatest structural importance and lesser weights for minor structural and non-structural elements. If a bridge has multiple spans, each element common to the spans is rated and the lowest individual span element rating is used in the condition rating formula.

NYSDOT defines a deficient bridge as one with a State condition rating less than 5.0. A deficient condition rating indicates deterioration at a level that requires corrective maintenance or rehabilitation to restore the bridge to its fully functional, non-deficient condition. It does not mean that the bridge is unsafe.

https://www.dot.ny.gov/main/bridgedata