Waterport bridge will close Monday for repairs

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 May 2014 at 12:00 am

File photo by Tom Rivers – Damien Darrell of Lockport was out fishing on April 19 from the bridge on Route 279 in Waterport. The bridge will be closed to traffic beginning on Monday so it can receive $1.5 million in upgrades.

WATERPORT – The Waterport Road bridge over Oak Orchard Creek will close on Monday and a detour will be posted on Hanlon, Harris and Ashwood roads.

The detour and construction are expected to last throughout the summer. Keeler Construction of Barre has been hired to do $1.5 million in repairs and preventive maintenance on the bridge.

The 700-foot-long bridge is the longest county-owned span in Orleans. The federal government is paying 80 percent of the costs, with the state 15 percent and the county the remaining 5 percent.