Aged bridge slows traffic, stirs fear

The Batchellerville Bridge in Edinburg has been spanning Great Sacandaga Lake since 1930.  After all those years, its condition is such that it can handle traffic from one direction at a time.  Fifteen tons is the limit. That means limitations on which trucks the local fire department can drive over it.  According to Fire Chief Wayne Seelow, his largest tanker - which carries 2000 gallons of water - would have to be dumped before crossing the bridge and then refilled, adding time to fire rescues where mere seconds can be the difference between life and death. Seelow says in a recent drill it took twenty-one minutes for an ambulance to arrive at a mock fire just under three miles away.  He said it took thirty-five minutes for some firefighters to arrive. 

Wednesday night, a group calling itself the Bridge of Life Committee met to organize a demonstration planned for Saturday on the bridge.  They are trying to get the town, state leaders and the congressional delegation to do something to secure about ten million dollars - money that would be added to $38.9 million that Town Supervisor Jean Raymond says has already been made available by the state for a replacement. In a letter to elected leaders, Raymond says bids on a new bridge project were opened last November, one for $66 million and another for $64 million.  The plans are now being redesigned and it is the hope of the supervisor that the project can be completed for less than $50 million.

In the meantime, residents and emergency responders are hopiing the bridge will not deteriorate further, and plans are being made to help mitigate the effects of the bridge's limitations.  On Wednesday, one resident suggested the fire department keep its largest tanker on the other side of the lake in case it is needed there. Seelow pointed out none of his crew lives on that side and suggested another fire district may be proposed in that area.  Firefighters from Middle Grove told the people gathered at the Edinburg firehouse that Fox Hill Road will now be graded and better maintained during the winter, when it is normally the last road that receives attention in that area.  The committee says reaching the best place for a helicopter to land can require crossing the bridge. Some members say drivers on the bridge have seen flashing lights and stopped on the bridge, rather than clearing a way for emergency vehicles.

One man who lives in Hope said the group is wasting its time writing to politicians and making a show for the media.  Walter Johnson suggested a better idea would be to retain a good engineering attorney "and really defend the rights, much less our lives," Johnson recommended. "We don't know which of us is going over that bridge when it goes down."

In Supervisor Raymond's letter to elected officials she says, "This project will take two construction season to complete so it must be bid by the end of 2009 tobe awarded and completed by 2011...We are hopeful the old bridge will last long enough for the new bridge to be constructed."

Town officials say the only thing holding back the project is money.