On April 14, 1949, the state announced that Dewey had authorized the purchase of the structure, the last remaining privately owned toll bridge in New York State.As part of the deal, the state had through the end of the fiscal year (April 1, 1950) to use the money to acquire the bridge, at a cost of $30,000 or less. On June 14, 1949, two months after the appropriation, the state extended the charter through January 1, 1950 to work with negotiation of the transactions. In the time span of more than a year after the appropriation, negotiations were made for a fair purchase price to acquire the structure, which came to an amount of $26,000 by September 1950. As part of the purchase, the bridge would be made toll-free. However, the state was not able to acquire the structure until August 6, 1952, when the state officially took over, abandoning the toll. Albro, who was at a ceremony removing the sign denoting the toll, noted that there was multiple issues in the three-year span involving transfer of the bridge, such as titles of the approaches and miscellaneous technicalities.