Kerns v. State

Pine, J. P., and Doerr, J. (dissenting).

We respectfully dissent; we would reverse and dismiss the claim.

The lift bridge at issue was built in 1915 and remained *1047substantially unmodified in 1990, when this accident occurred. A Regional Design Engineer employed by the New York State Department of Transportation testified that adding gates to the lift bridge would cost about $1.5 million. Defendant (the State) had started the process to rehabilitate the bridge in 1986; by 1989 design work had progressed but construction had not begun. The record reflects that there had been three accidents on the…