DOT puts Parkway paving, canal bridge repairs in capital plan
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Main Street lift bridge in Albion is slated for rehabilitation in 2018-19 as part of the DOT’s capital plan. The Albion bridge, plus the one on Route 19 in Brockport, are scheduled for $7.8 million in rehab work.
ALBION – A five-year capital by the State Department of Transportation includes repairs to the lift bridge on Main Street in Albion, $13 million to rehab six other canal bridges in Orleans County, and money to pave the Lake Ontario State Parkway.
Orleans County officials have been pressing the state to spend money to fix bridges and pave the Parkway. The DOT plan includes more than $14 million for Parkway work and nearly all of it is in Monroe County.
The Parkway paving includes $8.97 million to pave the parkway from Route 19 east to Payne Beach, and $5.2 million to pave the Parkway from Route 19 in Hamlin to Route 237 in Kendall. The Parkway paving projects are slated for 2017-18.
Some of the other projects in Orleans, identified in the capital plan, include:
• $430,000 in preventive maintenance for 8 bridges in Orleans County (2016-17)
• $3.13 million to pave Route 98 in Albion (2017-18)
• $13 million to rehab six bridges over the Erie Canal in Orleans County (2017-18)
• $1.63 million for Holley pavement preservation on Route 31 and 237 (2018-19)
• $7.8 million for lift bridge rehab on Route 98 in Albion and Route 19 in Brockport (2018-19)
• $1.35 million for bridge rehabilitation on Route 104 over Oak Orchard Creek (2019-20)
State Senator Rob Ortt (R-North Tonawanda) highlighted the list of projects. He said he was pleased to see several canal bridges in the five-year DOT capital program plan.
In addition to the bridge construction work, the state will install sensors on weight restricted canal lift bridges to monitor the structural integrity and to better assess appropriate corrective measures, Ortt said.
“For years, our local roads and bridges have been dangerously underfunded by the state,” Ortt said. “For the first time in more than a decade, the State Legislature has achieved true parity in transportation funding between upstate and downstate – the DOT and the MTA – with $27.1 billion for each entity over a five-year period.”
There are 16 lift bridges on the canal and seven of them are in Orleans County. There are more than a dozen other steel truss canal bridges in Orleans that are about a century old.
“This money is a good start to help fix the structural problems in our region,” Ortt said. “The infrastructure improvements to the two canal lift bridges will contribute to economic growth while maintaining the safety of the individuals who use them, including our farmers and emergency personnel. We need reliable infrastructure to stimulate the economy, create jobs and protect future generations.”
A complete list of DOT projects can be found by clicking here.
