�We are planning to improve 100 bridges,� Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

In his state of the state address, Governor Cuomo promised to accelerate construction to rebuild crumbling bridges.

�32% of bridges are rated deficient,� Governor Cuomo said.

Among the worst is the one-and-a-half mile stretch of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway: a notorious triple-decker pot-holed, patched up highway in Brooklyn Heights, long-overdue for a major rehab.

But just weeks ago, the state Department of Transportation suddenly decided to cancel plans to move ahead on rebuilding the BQE.

It�s a decision that meant the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal highway funds.

�This is a big mistake. I can�t conceive that they don�t recognize how vital this thoroughfare is and they�ve been patching it for years,� said Carole Grau.

Anyone who drives the nearly 60-year-old stretch of the BQE is aware of the growing patchwork of metal netting to keep the crumbling concrete from falling on cars.

A 2009 inspection report Eyewitness News obtained documents the rapidly deteriorating conditions of most of the bridge�s spans.

In this report from three years ago, the DOT states: �The structural deficiencies are increasing despite aggressive maintenance efforts.�

�I drive it all the time. We know it�s coming to the end of its useful life,� City Council Public Safety Chair Peter Vallone said.

City Councilman Peter Vallone chairs the Public Safety Committee.

�Serious action needs to be taken and rather than do that, they decided to take their money and go someplace else, and that is not the decision that�s going to keep us safest that�s for sure,� Councilman Vallone said.

The state Department of Transportation declined to be interviewed for our report.

But, they insist the BQE is structurally sound.

In canceling the rebuilding project, a spokesman says, �It came down to making strategic choices in order to make the best use of limited resources.�

So for at least the next decade, expect to see the patch-work spread as the state tries to squeeze more years from an out-dated and weakening bridge.

And expect more of this too: DOT data shows the BQE has an accident rate in �excess of five times the statewide average.�

�We need to be safe, we need to rebuild our infrastructure,� Gov. Cuomo said.

�I mean they�re waiting for a collapse and possibly deaths,� Grau said.

Both the state and city insist the BQE is structurally sound and that repairs will be made on an as-needed basis.

Eyewitness News requested a copy of the latest inspection and was told it was not ready for release.

That inspection was done six months ago.

(Source: ABC News)