Eagle Harbor Road reopens after repairs from flooding on April 1

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – A section of Eagle Harbor Road reopened to traffic this afternoon following repairs to the road from flooding on April 1.

The top photo shows the Orleans County Highway Department using a Bobcat with a power broom to remove dirt and dust on a section of the road that was repaved.

A big rainstorm on April 1 flooding across the road and took out a chunk of it on the east side.

The Orleans County DPW put in about 120 tons of crusher-run stone to shore up the shoulder and part of the road support that had washed out. The DPW then added heavier stone and riprap to hold the gravel in place.

Keeler Construction put new pavement on top of the road. The repairs cost about $20,000, Lane said.

The four culvert pipes carry water from Otter Creek underneath the road. There used to be a ridge here more than 30 years ago, said Craig lane, the DPW superintendent for the county.

The bridge had a span of about 24 feet. It was replaced with culvert pipes. Those pipes don’t handle the water as well with a big rainstorm, and the culvert pipes sometimes get clogged with debris, impeding the water flow, Lane said this afternoon.

He said he will be seeking state and federal funds through the Genesee Transportation Council to turn this spot back to a bridge in the future.

Here is how the rebuilt road and culvert looks this afternoon, not long before the road reopened to traffic.

Soon after the April 1 flooding, which Lane called a once-in-a-decade-storm, the Orleans County DPW also reset drainage pipes that were exposed and knocked out of place on Culvert Road in Ridgeway near the Canal Culvert. The DPW also cleared debris out of the Culvert tunnel.

The DPW workers also fixed a driveway on Orleans-Monroe Countyline Road, adding stone that had been washed out near the road.

Justin Niederhofer, the county’s emergency management director, said it looks like the county may be eligible for federal reimbursement from the storm damages. Many counties were affected by the storm and there is a threshold statewide for the counties to receive aid. The state is going through that process now to see if there will be FEMA aid for the counties, Niederhofer said.