by Kristina Gabalski
Both lift bridges over the Erie Canal in Brockport are scheduled for repair and maintenance work this spring.
Officials from the NYS Canal Corporation and the NYS Department of Transportation discussed the upcoming work during a public meeting March 30 at the Brockport Middle School.
The Park Avenue bridge is first on the work schedule with repairs to the southeast sheave wheel set to begin May 7.
Richard Manns, Division Canal Engineer with the NYS Canal Corporation said the bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic from Monday, May 7 to Friday, May 25.
Brad Grisley, Bridge Maintenance Engineer for Region 4, NYS Department of Transportation, said the DOT will also make repairs to the south bridge joint and minor repairs to the deck grating at the same time.
Work on the Main Street (Route 19) lift bridge is scheduled to begin Tuesday, May 29 and run through Friday, June 15. The bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic during that time.
Manns said the Canal Corp. will replace the lifting cables on the Main Street Bridge.
A detour will be posted utilizing Fourth Section Road (Route 31), Sweden Walker Road (Route 260) and Ridge Road (Rt 104).
Work on the Brockport Main Street lift bridge will not start until work is complete at the Park Avenue lift bridge, Manns said. “We’re not going to close both bridges at once.”
The Main St. bridge cables were last replaced in 1992, Manns said. The average service life of the counterweight cables is 15 years.
“The Main St. bridge was re-habilitated completely in ’92,” Manns said, “it’s a relatively new bridge.”
Pedestrian walkways will remain open during both projects except for a brief time after the bridge is first placed in the raised position, officials said. The walkways will not be handicap accessible during the work.
Brad Grisley said the NYSDOT is scheduled to make repairs to the deck grating at the same time the cables are replaced. “It’s a good time for us to get in and do deck work,” Grisley said, “the Route 19 bridge is pretty loud.”
Manns noted that similar lift bridge work in Spencerport in 2004 and also in Middleport, Knowlesville and Albion all took three weeks to complete.
George Dahl of the Brockport Integrated Service and Community Organization – BISCO – attended the meeting. He asked officials if the work would affect the summer Arts Festival BISCO has planned for August 11 and 12, if it took longer than expected to complete.
“We’ve had to re-route the festival for two years,” Dahl said. “We’re looking forward to having it on Main Street.”
Manns said he is pretty confident the work will take three weeks (per bridge), “I don’t think it will affect the Arts Festival,” he said.
Officials say the bridgework will not impact navigation on the Canal System or the Canalway Trail.
