Clinton County Update
AUG 14, 2020 —
Today we spent almost two hours with Clinton County Highway Supervisor Karl Wiess and Rob Timmons from the Clinton County Transportation Committee. They were tremendously helpful today, and we thank them very much for their time. Also joining us today was Clayton Barber, Sandy Senecal, and Steven Englehart.
SWING BRIDGE
We discussed the current status of the Swing Bridge and the 2018 RIT assessment of the bridge. Karl was great to have today because his engineer eyes see things from a different prospective. He pointed out some issues to be address such as the sinkhole, and proper drainage, as well as insight to how much it would best guess cost to paint and restore the Swing Bridge.
UPPER BRIDGE
I was given the chance to discuss the Upper Bridge as a member of the community. They were very open to hearing what I had to say. We discussed who owned the Bridges, Who is responsible for maintenance, and we discussed the Historical importance of the three bridges in town as a group. We presented our four areas of concern 1) History 2) Tourism 3) Supporting Local Business 4) Traffic Safety concerns.
We discussed opening up as a pedestrian bridge. If that were to happen the decking would need to be replaced, fix structural issues, and new railings put in that are much higher. The original plans for the 2008 renovation called for a pedestrian walkway to be installed on the side of the bridge to meet regulations.
ARCH BRIDGE
We discussed briefly the current plans to make the arch bridge a no weight limit bridge. I expressed that most people in town have mentioned to me they do not support his. Nor do they support a four way flashing red light at the intersection.
OLD STATE ROAD BRIDGE
Out of all the bridges, the Old State Road seems to be in the worst condition. Karl showed me the stringers on the bridge, and that you could see through holes with some of them. We talked restoration, bridge replacement, and opening for pedestrians. With the current status of the bridge, it’s going to be quite difficult to open for pedestrians as it is a liability. We also talked about bridge removal and putting up observation stations on each side. I expressed that I don’t think that would be a good solution because the real view is from the middle of that bridge.
The general theme from the County officials is that there is no money currently. I explained I certainly understand that, and that now would be a good time to start planning and come up with some solutions.
DONATIONS
I asked for their opinion on where donations would best be served. Unfortunately that is a difficult question to answer because studies would need to be done on all the bridges, which is very expensive to begin with. Until we have real numbers to work with, I’m not comfortable asking for donations.
THANK YOU
Thank You Karl, Rob, Sandy, Clayton, and Steve for joining me today. Now that we have heard prospectives from Clinton County, we hope to eventually do the same with Essex County Officials soon. We aren’t intending to make life difficult for anyone, we are just trying to preserve Keeseville’s Heritage.
I think once Essex County officials meet with me, they will realize what my real intentions are. To put a stop to the removal of the Upper Bridge, and to begin talks at the County Level for solutions of how to restore and reopen these bridges in the future before it is too late. Plan now, act at a later time. We need support from the County and we are trying to build those connections. Thank you again to everyone who joined us.
