Friday, September 27, 2013

Cross Over the Bridge

At the Common Council Economic Development Committee meeting last week, the Ferry Street bridge was identified as the number one priority for the City of Hudson. As Alderman John Friedman (Third Ward) put it, "The entire south portion of the waterfront hinges on that bridge." CSX has agreed to let the City take ownership of the bridge, but so far, although two grant applications have been submitted, the City has failed to secure the money needed to repair or replace the deteriorated bridge. Bill Roehr, of TGW Consultants, explained that, in the case of the first grant application, the state pulled the money from the program, and no grants were awarded. In the case of the second grant application, he said that the City's application lacked detail.

Earlier this week, cables for counting vehicles appeared, stretched across the western approach to the Ferry Street bridge. It seemed at first that the City might have put them there to gather evidence of the bridge's utility and importance, but that turned out not to be the case. When Gossips asked DPW superintendent Rob Perry about the cables, he said they were placed there not by Department of Public Works but by the NYS Department of Transportation. Why DOT selected that site and how the data gathered will be used remain a mystery.
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3 comments:

  1. unheimlichSeptember 27, 2013 at 7:14 PM

    Was the bridge discussed as a historical structure within the Union/Allen/South Front Street Historical District, or have our betters already forgotten this fact?

    As I recall, it was Gossips that first brought public awareness to this issue at a time when the city was unthinkingly considering replacing the bridge altogether.

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  2. 1RiparianSeptember 28, 2013 at 5:52 PM

    Once asked a bridge painter, why don't they paint RR bridges? Because they're "overbuilt" with galvanized steel, no rust. Running boards and a roof could save a lot of taxpayer dollars.

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    Replies
    1. unheimlichSeptember 29, 2013 at 12:14 AM

      "Overbuilt," is my impression too. But what do I know?

      I know that the last thing Hudson would seek is the analysis of a professional engineer (so, not Crawford).

      We'd prefer to base our decision on the impressions of a second cousin of an alderman who attended a few classes at Rensselaer Polytechnic.

      Or why not just the alderman's impression ....

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