Published: September 17, 2008 12:47 am            

WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM: Newfane bridge repair a ways off

NEWFANE — A bridge over Eighteenmile Creek will remain closed at least through the fall.

Niagara County shut down the Wilson-Burt Road bridge west of Route 78 on Sept. 2 after inspection suggested it’s not safe to cross in its current condition.

The state transportation department red-flagged the bridge recently during the course of its biennial bridge inspections. Follow-up inspection by the county showed one of the bridge’s concrete piers is spalling (flaking).

County public works officials said the piers hold the span about 40 feet above the creek surface, so strength testing to determine safe weight loads couldn’t be done. The county thus made a decision to be safe rather than sorry.

“We felt more comfortable closing the bridge ... until we can repair it,” Public Works Commissioner Kevin O’Brien said.

Newfane resident Dennis Clark says the bridge closing poses a problem for regular users like him. The county-posted detour around Wilson-Burt Road is lengthy, and bridge users never were sufficiently informed why the bridge was closed or how long it will be inaccessible. Since the closing, nobody’s seen a stitch of work done on the bridge, he added.

The bridge likely will not be opened again until winter, Deputy Public Works Commissioner Michael Tracy said. The first thing public works had to do was get the county Legislature’s OK to undertake the repair. It’s not a budgeted project, so permission was needed.

Now an engineer has been hired to design a repair job — and a complicated job at that, because the work will have to be done from scaffolding, Tracy said.

Once the design is prepared, ideally by the end of this month, the job will be put out to competitive bid. Lining up the job specifics probably will take most of the fall, O’Brien said.

“We’re very hopeful that we can get it done before winter, but a delay would not necessarily push back the work to next spring. It’s possible the repairs could be done during the winter,” he said.

The cost of repairing the pier won’t be known until the engineering design is done. The tab will belong 100 percent to the county, O’Brien said.

In the meantime, the county posted an official detour that takes vehicles north on Route 78, about 2 1/2 miles to Route 18, then west to West Creek Road, to get to the other side of the bridge.

Clark uses a shorter alternative way to the other side, town-held Edward Avenue for an additional 1 mile on his path, but he said the road also is well used by farm vehicles — and since there’s no passing allowed, traffic behind the tractors is slowed to about 35 mph.

Clark wants the county to know residents are anxious to see corrective action taken.

O’Brien said he’s well aware, thanks to the phone calls his department has received from unhappy drivers.

“We didn’t close it and abandon it,” he said. “We are working on a solution at this time.”

The repair job that’s done will be considered temporary, Tracy said. The bridge is scheduled to receive total rehabilitation by the county in four to five years.

Contact reporter Joyce Miles at 439-9222, ext. 6245.



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