Bridge is gone, and new-look Clarendon Street is almost done

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 June 2015 at 12:00 am

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Keeler Construction of Barre is nearly done with the tear out of the Clarendon Street bridge in the Village of Albion. The photo above shows the site earlier today.

Here is how it looked on April 7 when Wargo Enterprises in Akron dismantled the concrete bridge. Wargo was hired as a subcontractor to rip apart the structure. Keeler Construction in Barre is the main contractor on the project.

Besides removing the 40-year-old bridge over the railroad tracks, the highway embankments have been lowered and the street is blocked off at a 90-degree angle at Crimson Drive (see photos from this afternoon). On the north side, the street is also blocked off with a turnaround spot near Childs Street.

Here is how the spot looked before the construction project started.

Keeler submitted the low bid of $442,640 for the project. That was below the engineer’s estimate of $700,000.

There is still some hydro-seeding to be done at the site, as well as trees to be planted. The road also will be painted with striping lines.

Much of the dirt from the 11-foot-high embankments was moved to the big sledding hill at Bullard Park.

Here is the north side of the street, which is also blocked off. The site will have trees and will soon be hydro-seeded.

Wargo Enterprises brought in the heavy equipment in April to take apart the bridge.

The federal government is paying 80 percent of the costs, with the state paying 15 percent and the village 5 percent.

The village was planning on replacing the bridge but the costs building a new bridge exceeded estimates by about $600,000. The state and federal shares weren’t approved for the additional cost, which would have left the village footing the entire bill for the increase.

The Village Board deemed that too expensive and chose a different, less costly option of tearing out the bridge and blocking off the street near the railroad tracks.

Village officials have said they will pursue an at-grade crossing at the site in the future.