Crossing the canal
Bridge repairs continue

Gallup Road bridge, Trimmer Road bridge and Washington Street bridge; what do all three have in common? Repairs.

Gallup Road bridge over the Erie Canal was closed most of last winter. During that time the approach was reworked, structural repairs were done, and the entire bridge was gone over to insure its continued safety. Currently, as part of the same project, Canal Road just west of Washington Street is being moved further south. The curve is being phased out and a new "T" stop is being implemented. Monroe County owns Canal Road and the land being used for the new construction, therefore, none of the residents along the curve of Canal Road lost their own property in this realignment.

This project is in conjunction with the Canal Authority and Monroe County Department of Transportation. They have subcontracted the job to the Town of Ogden and Town of Clarkson highway departments. Currently there is a slight detour of traffic, but that should be removed within the next few weeks. Dave Widger, Ogden highway superintendent, said this change was necessary for two reasons.

Currently, the canal path traveling towards the Gallup Road Bridge ends abruptly and the pedestrian has to enter Canal Road before continuing along the path. This new road will allow for a continuous canal path. Another reason to reduce the curve in the road is for clearer visibility for traffic coming from the bridge as well as traffic traveling Canal Road. The new stop will be in the form of a "T". This work is currently in progress and Widger expects the first phase will be finished within a few weeks. In the spring, landscaping and other finishing touches will be completed.

This winter, it will be the bridge at Trimmer Road that is closed to traffic. Basically the same scenario will take place at Trimmer Road bridge as was done to Gallup Road bridge last year. Rick Bennett, Construction Project Engineer with New York State Department of Transportation, said the Trimmer Road bridge will close the last week in November and will reopen in the spring right before the Washington Street bridge closes again, usually in late April, early May. The lift bridge in Adams Basin (the Washington Street, Route 36 bridge) remains on the list of bridges needing repairs. Brian McMahon, Regional Design Engineer with the New York State Department of Transportation, reports that if everything goes as currently planned, most importantly if funding comes through as anticipated, the historic lift bridge is slated to be completely functional again by 2006. There will be no weight restrictions on it after that and the necessary steel plates that currently warn of weight restrictions will be gone. However, there is extensive work to be done before that can happen.

The entire mechanical and electrical system on the Washington Street bridge has to be replaced, the decking has to be completely removed and replaced, and several steel structural supports need replacement. McMahon says he is confident the bridge has been well inspected and there will be no surprises once repairs begin. He assures that his office is aware of everything that needs to be done to the bridge.

McMahon also maintains that while the bridge will be practically brand new, it will retain the original "look." There is no plan to widen it.

The plan for the Washington Street bridge, as it currently stands, is to resume the closing and opening schedule for the bridge as it has been the past couple of years. That is, it will go back down this November and be open to vehicles and be raised up again in May 2004 for the navigation season. It will be lowered again in November 2004, however, once it's raised in May 2005 it will remain raised until it's fixed. This could mean it is raised for an entire year and not be lowered in November 2005.

The New York State Department of Transportation representatives say they recognize that bridge repairs are inconvenient to residents and commuters and they try hard to not have more than one bridge in an area closed at any given time. However, as happened last spring with Washington Street and Gallup Road bridges, work occasionally overlaps. The DOT asks for patience from the public.