Bridge Watch

In April, Mayor Tiffany Martin Hamilton announced that funds to rebuild the Ferry Street Bridge had been secured through the New York State Department of Transportation. The disappointing part was that the actual construction of the bridge could not begin until 2020.

In  his report to the Common Council Public Works Committee on Wednesday, Rob Perry, DPW superintendent, shared the news that the "Ferry Street Bridge has been officially 'progammed' by DOT following the funding approval by the Columbia County Transportation Advisory Committee." Perry defined the next steps in the process as:

• Distribute letters of interest to DOT Region 8 approved engineering firms; and
• Prepare transfer resolution in October from capital reserve to a capital account to begin preliminary design, right of way and incidentals, and final design.

Perry explained that no part of the project can begin before October 1, 2016, because that is the first day of the federal fiscal year 2017. The City will receive $250,000 in the first round of funding. There is also $600,000 in a capital reserve fund established for the bridge at the end of 2015.
COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK