Footbridge Update
Responding to Gossips' inquiry, DPW superintendent Rob Perry explained why the pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks has been cordoned off: "The repairs that CSX made a few years ago are exhibiting multiple failures. We brought it to the attention of Amtrak and taped it off."
.jpg)
Amtrak made its position known in a letter to Eric Foster of the NYS DOT dated December 23, 2013:
ReplyDelete"Amtrak is not responsible for the maintenance of the Ferry Street public highway bridge ... Amtrak is not required to, nor will it, maintain [this bridge]."
Amtrak adds that when maintenance to the bridge is planned, they ask for notice to arrange for the safety of their passengers.
As far as the walkway is concerned, which requires very little in the way of repairs, everything points in the direction of the city doing the work.
The city's first duty is to its residents. Though this begins with public safety, the city ought to follow through by committing itself to easing our access to the riverfront and the park.
It would be disingenuous to pretend to blame Amtrak for any of the above, yet what we've seen in the past was City Hall puffing itself up with self-righteousness, pretending to be effectual by virtue of obscuring the facts of the case.
The city should find the plywood and do the repairs, period. No theatrics and no obfuscation this time.
There's no excuse for not doing these small repairs to the pedestrian portion of the Ferry Street Bridge, unless the city is simply waiting for residents to continue their own repairs done guerilla-style.
This will be an interesting test, because what happens with the bridge this summer will reveal what City Hall cares about most. Is it the convenience of city and county residents, or will it be more self-serving politics?
Growing up in downtown Hudson I have walked across this bridge many a times. Sometimes trains would be heading towards Albany and we would stay on the bridge and watch the train leave. What good memories. It would be a shame if this bridge isn't fixed.Carl Brash to the rescue.
ReplyDelete