Save Keeseville's Historic Bridges

Updated Proposal for the Counties

By matt | August 15, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

AUG 15, 2020 —

Here is my next Proposal on how to save the bridges based off the information I’ve received this week:

We have two closed bridges here. The Upper Bridge is owned by Essex County. The Chasm Bridge is owned by Clinton County. Each County is responsible for 50% maintenance of the bridges.

Either way you look at this, In actuality Essex County has one bridge to fix, and Clinton County has one bridge to fix. We need to change the dialog from “We don’t have any money to do it” to “Lets find a way to make this happen, and find the money to do it”. The People of Keeseville and the surrounding area as well as tourists from all over the world love these bridges.

The following message is from Derek Rhode the Historic Site Restoration Coordinator:

“We did a brief check on this bridge and we would certainly suggest that they remain and be properly maintained.”
~Derek Rohde
New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

The Counties must go through his office if Federal or state funding is used to remove them. Their suggestion is that the bridges be renovated and reopened and not demolished.

My suggestion is that the Counties talk, and figure out a way to make it work. In the grand scheme of things one bridge extra for each county isn’t going to make or break the system. They are not of high priority for the Counties, but they are certainly high priority to Keeseville. Let’s work together and find a solution to these long neglected bridges.

The Swing Bridge study came this past week, and there are a few minor issues to address (Sink hole, dangerous trees), but overall is in good health with repairs/paint needed within five years.

The Swing Bridge is in good enough shape for now, and in a few years get together and make that happen after the work on the other bridges is done. Just do the minor work now, and come back to it in a few years after opening the other bridges.

When the bridges reopen, brochures should be made advertising the “Historic Bridges of Keeseville”. Pictures of all five of our Historic Bridges (Including Arch Bridge and Ausable Chasm State Bridge). On the back of the brochure we should list all of the businesses in town and surrounding area. Disperse these brochures across the highway system and state like all the other brochures for towns do, and this will draw visitors in.

This creates Tax revenue for the Counties, and towns, supports our Businesses and Tourism. It also gives the people something positive to look forward to in the current times. It puts people to work, and invites guests to our town. This will lead to more business, and more people moving into the area. This, in conjunction with all the other major efforts happening with Keeseville will revitalize Keeseville and start bringing the town back to what it used to be.

Traffic Issues in the downtown area and Old State road would be fixed.
And lastly as a reminder, these are just ideas being put forward because it does need to be done. They aren’t meant to be perfect ideas. We aren’t angry, we are protecting Keeseville’s Heritage. We want our bridges to be used for generations to come. Thank you Clinton and Essex Counties for considering these options. We need you! Our bridges need to stay, and should be acted upon soon.

Comments/Suggestions:

keesevillehistoricbridges@gmail.com

Clinton County Update

By matt | August 14, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

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.

Lots of Progress and Pressure!

By matt | August 13, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

AUG 13, 2020 —

TOWN OF AUSABLE

Tonight the town of Ausable voted unanimously yes to the “Save Keeseville’s Historic Bridges” campaign. Thank you Supervisor Sandy Senecal and the rest of the Town board for their support.

TOWN OF CHESTERFIELD

This morning Supervisor Barber in the Town of Chesterfield made some phone calls to stop the removal of the Upper Bridge. He also forwarded our calls for progress to be made including looking in to the possibility of opening the Upper Bridge and Old State Road Bridge to pedestrians first, before we fix the bridges for vehicle traffic.

FOIL REQUESTS

Over the weekend I requested any and all documents in regards to ALL of Keeseville’s Historic Bridges from both Clinton County and Essex County. This is to include any studies done on the bridges by engineers, and any information in regards to what happened to the 2.1 Million Dollar grant awarded to Essex County.

Both Counties have responded appropriately and will be in touch with me in regards to how to get that information to me.

PUSH BACK AND MAJOR OBSTACLES

NO WEIGHT LIMIT ON NEW COUNTY BRIDGES

There is a major push right now for counties to build bridges with no weight limits. We certainly understand the need for this. However, there is an exception to every rule, and our historic bridges, especially the story behind all of them together as a group should make an exception to that rule.

NOW IS NOT THE TIME

Another common misconception is “Now is not the time” considering the pandemic and Covid-19. Our response is, we didn’t have a choice as our bridge was scheduled to be removed. Also, we are not expecting trucks to show up tomorrow and fix them. What we are calling for is for both counties to come up with a PLAN to fix and maintain these bridges. THEN when grants become available again, we won’t have to start the process, the agreements will be made and the proper paperwork filled out.

RAISING TAXES

Don’t fall for this. With grants the county is only responsible for the remaining 20% of the repairs. In certain cases DOT will pay 15% and the County 5%. Now, since both Counties are responsible for maintenance on our bridges it could be done like this:

Essex County 5%

Essex County DOT Region 1 – 5%

Clinton County 5%

Clinton County DOT Region 7- 5%

FUND RAISING EFFORTS

Many people have asked if we are fund raising. The answer is not yet. We are waiting for exact numbers on how much things will cost to repair. We may do a fund raising campaign in the future once we know for sure what we can and can not do.

CLINTON COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE

Two members of the Clinton County Transportation Committee will touring the bridges this up and coming week. I’ve also invited Highway superintendent Karl Weiss and Jim Dougan to take a tour with us. I’ve actually invited every county official I can think of to come visit the bridges and take a walk with me.

HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENTS

Both Highway superintendents have been great resources as to what obstacles we face and are both open to suggestions. My whole approach is to build support with our county officials and work together to make things happen.

WHAT IS PROGRESS?

Progress comes in many ways. What we really want to hear as far as progress is:

1) The Upper Bridge will not be removed (In Writing)

2) Counties will give estimates on how much opening to pedestrians would cost

3) Counties in support of coming up with a plan now to be ahead of the game for when grants become available.

4) Bridges shored up/repaired to allow for pedestrian use.

PEDESTRIAN USE OF BRIDGES

One obstacle for allowing pedestrians to use the bridges is if a large number of pedestrians use the bridge at one time it weighs more than a car and could cause damage or collapse of the bridge.

This is certainly reasonable to understand. What can we do to allow for pedestrian traffic. This is where a fund raiser may come in handy in the future. We just need the counties to work with us and think creatively.

Thank you for your support and all you do.