DOT to present plan to fix Michael Road bridge

ADAMS CENTER — State transportation officials should get a warm welcome from Adams residents during a public information session on the fate of the Michael Road bridge later this month.

More than a year since the bridge was put out of service after it was struck by a truck, and thanks to a strong lobbying effort by area residents, the state Department of Transportation Region 7 now says it's ready to present its plan for putting the span over Interstate 81 back in service.

The agency will hold a public information session at 7 p.m. Sept. 24 in the high school auditorium of the Gen. Bruce C. Clarke High School, DOT Region 7 spokesman Michael R. Flick said Thursday.

During the session, DOT staff will present a plan for repairing the bridge using a "nontraditional, mix-and-match" method that should strike a workable compromise between convenience for Adams motorists and tight financial times for the state. The plan calls for replacement of the bridge's center section to raise its outdated height from 14 feet, 6 inches to the current 16-foot standard.

Clearance was a factor in the collision that put the bridge out of service in July 2008, when it was hit by a truck carrying an over-height load.

The session is scheduled to last until 9 p.m., but may run longer if needed to respond to public concerns, Mr. Flick said.

The spokesman said in early August that DOT was considering the unusual repair plan for the bridge after many area residents and elected officials objected to the possibility of its permanent removal. That was looking likely, given its relatively low traffic volume and the high cost of a full replacement to bring it up to standards.

Town Councilman George E. Moulton has been an advocate and organizer of community support in trying to get the bridge rebuilt. A resident of Michael Road west of I-81 who runs a construction business from his home, Mr. Moulton said in August that he can't use his large trucks on the gravel Cobbville Road, the nearest alternative route to an interstate crossing, because of a five-ton weight limit. Instead, he must make a five-mile detour north through Adams Center and back south to get to Mannsville, the village of Adams and Pierrepont Manor, where he regularly does business. That adds up to a significant cost increase over time — in more vehicle maintenance and fuel and in road taxes he must pay on business mileage.

The bridge closure also has disrupted small business along Route 11, owners, employees and residents have said. Owners and managers of Lunman Furniture & Appliance, Kinney Drugs and Belloff's Department Store submitted written comments to DOT in support of the bridge repair.

Shannon M. O'Brien, 17433 Michael Road, said in August that he has rarely shopped at the stores in the South Jeff Plaza since the bridge has been closed. His wife, Kim A. O'Brien, an employee of Kinney Drugs, said using Cobbville Road, which runs through a wetland, can be challenging in winter weather.

Perhaps the resident most inconvenienced by the bridge closure has been David A. Loomis, 11780 Cobbville Road, who has had to halt his regular short hunting excursions on the 20 acres of land he owns on the east side of I-81, since it's now a longer haul to get there from where his home is, on the 40 acres he owns on the west side of the highway. He's also had to give up harvesting firewood from that eastern section of his land, he said in August, because getting there with a slow-moving tractor now requires a much longer trip.