Posts Tagged ‘DOT’

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Expect Traffic Delays in Cascade Pass

Cascade Pass (1)Hikers and others traveling to Lake Placid from the south should be aware that traffic on Route 73 in Cascade Pass will be limited to one lane for most of May due to roadwork. The highway may be closed to all traffic during one weekend.

Most of the parking area for one of the most popular summits in the High Peaks—Cascade Mountain—will be closed. Parking also will be banned at the western trailhead for Pitchoff Mountain, another popular destination, and Stagecoach Rock. The latter two parking areas are located near the Cascade trailhead, but on the other side of the road. » Continue Reading.


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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

What Makes This A Park?

The Adirondack Park is more than double the size of Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks combined, but its greatness is not always apparent. Silver lakes and dark woods beckon from some roadsides, while lawns and driveways interrupt the wild scenery from others. With its mix of private and public land, the Adirondacks have always had something of an identity problem.

Four decades after the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) was created to oversee development on private lands, the Park is still in search of a coherent look. Brown road signs with yellow lettering suggest to visitors they are in a special place. But are signs enough?

“The Adirondacks mean nothing if you don’t know you’re in a park,” said George Davis, who led the state’s Commission on the Adirondacks in the Twenty-First Century in 1990. “Where else do you have six million acres of [largely] forested land? Not this side of Minnesota.”  The commission proposed a series of recommendations to make the Adirondacks more park-like, including establishing an Adirondack Park Administration to oversee planning of both private and public lands and an Adirondack Park Service that would manage the public lands. » Continue Reading.


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Monday, July 11, 2011

Guest Essay: The Rooftop Highway, A Bad Idea

What follows is a guest essay by John Danis, a member of a new organization (YESeleven) which hopes to put an end the long-standing proposal to build the Northern Tier Expressway (aka I-98 or the Rooftop Highway), a 175-mile four lane divided highway that would link I-81 in Watertown and I-87 in Champlain. The Almanack asked Danis to provide readers with some insight as to why they oppose the highway.

Several months ago, a group of concerned citizens began discussions aimed at forming YESeleven, an organization intended to educate the public in Northern New York about the misguided attempts by bureaucrats and politicians in the region to construct a 172 mile, limited access, high-speed interstate highway, from Watertown to Plattsburgh.

For the past 3 years, proponents of this so-called, “Rooftop Highway”, have been quietly and methodically lining up political support across the region to try and force the hand of the state and federal governments to finance the estimated 4-billion, (their number!), or more dollar cost of constructing what we felt was a massively transformational, destructive and financially overreaching plan for the entire region.

The Rooftop Highway, or what proponents refer to as I-98, is an idea with a history going back fifty years or more, to the era of the construction of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways. Periodically over these fifty or more years the notion of connecting the Maine seacoast with the Great Lakes Basin has ebbed and surged. The “Rooftop” highway concept was to be part of this, “Can-Am” highway, particularly the part that would connect I-81 and I-87, across the northern tier of New York State. Adjacent highway development on both sides of the US-Canadian border, have dampened enthusiasm for this grand concept in many regions, with the notable exception of Northern New York.

In 2008, the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT), published a study, which had been three years in the making, called the “Northern Tier Expressway Corridor Study”. This study was an exhaustive and comprehensive view of the US Route 11 transportation corridor, the established and dominant corridor of economic activity across the region, (this study is available at our YESeleven website, yeseleven.org). The study looked at all aspects of life across the region and concluded that the vital Route 11 transportation corridor, with it’s myriad counties, towns, villages, businesses, farms and universities, as well as it’s environmental treasures, was best served by a plan that contemplated evolutionary and targeted upgrades and improvements to the existing corridor over twenty years. Moreover, it would be done at a tenth or less of the cost of what a new and competing economic development corridor could be built for. Further, the improvements would be made in the existing corridor, rather than destroying thousand of square miles of land, dividing the entire region, displacing hundreds of landowners, etc.

The DOT study was rejected out of hand by Rooftop Highway proponents and their political allies. Their rejection of the plan seemed to be based on the belief that the Route 11 upgrades were not good enough, that the region was owed and deserving of a full interstate highway, with four interstate connector spurs criss-crossing the St. Lawrence Valley.

YESeleven’s view is that their position is essentially creating, at phenomenal cost, what amounts to a 172 mile bypass of every economic center in the region. The development of an adjacent economic corridor can only serve to create winners and losers as interstate highways have done in so many other regions. The best argument that the Rooftoppers have put forth is that if we build it, surely, they will come. All other claims about job creation have been poorly documented, if at all.

One of our positions is that every time that this discussion has come up over the past fifty-plus years, it has sapped energy, focus and financial resources away from more immediate and essential maintenance and improvement needs to our existing highway infrastructure and economic activity.

In short, the Rooftop highway plan is an overreaching, pie-in-the-sky distraction and we need to set it aside, once and for all, and move on.

You can visit the YESeleven website to learn more about our positions on highway infrastructure needs and solutions in the Northern New York Region.


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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Dave Gibson: Common Road Salt is Toxic to the Adirondacks

Outside my house, and in the forest back beyond the land is carpeted with crystalline beauty, affording quietude, serenity, thermal shelter for critters, and some nice ski runs. Out on the county road, just two hours after the recent storm the pavement is bare – right on schedule with transportation departments’ standard for road maintenance and safety. To accomplish it, a corrosive pollutant will be laid down in quantity – 900,000 tons of road salt will be used across the state this winter according to the Department of Transportation (DOT) website.

A search of the DOT website reveals little about the polluting, corrosive impacts of sodium chloride, the most heavily used anti or deicing compound. One detects awareness of the problem in the reports from DOT regions which seek to “sensitize” its workers on best management practices for road salt applications, or experimental/spot use of alternatives to sodium chloride such as magnesium or calcium chloride which have basically the same ecological damage, but don’t result in as much corrosive damage.

There is nothing comprehensive, however, and certainly nothing urgent about such an important matter, which is why we can be thankful for ADK Action and Paul Smith College’s Adirondack Watershed Institute’s Feb. 2010 report. This report prepared by the Institute’s Dan Kelting is nothing if not comprehensive, substantive, data-rich about the science and impacts of road salt on Adirondack environments, natural and constructed. You can read the full report, “Review of Effects and Costs of Road De-icing with Recommendations for Winter Road Management in the Adirondack Park,” at AdkAction.Org [pdf].

Periodically, DOT comes to report to the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) on road salt use in the Adirondacks. They cite best management practices for determining real time road conditions, method and rate and timing of applications, accurate spreading equipment, and alternatives to the polluting chloride ion. I recall one DOT verbal report a decade or so ago to the APA which spoke to the need to educate county and town maintenance crews and upgrade their trucks and salt spreaders. However, despite the recent Adirondack report and the publicity it received, there is still no sense of urgency or priority on the DOT website. DOT always comes down to the bottom line. Sodium chloride is “cheap.” It costs $42 per ton, calcium chloride $140/ton, magnesium chloride $111/ton and the product with the least environmental and corrosive impact, calcium magnesium acetate, costs $1,500 per ton.

In November, Adirondack Wild and a group of students from Pace Law School visited Dan Kelting, the author of the report and director of the Watershed Institute at Paul Smith’s College. Dan showed maps contained in the report which dramatically indicate the extent to which the 10,000 miles of state, county and local highways in the Adirondack Park interact with lakes, ponds, streams and aquifers. Well over half of the surface acres of water in the Park interact with the highways (as a result of drainage from actual intersection with water). About half of the highway lane miles in the Park are underlain by underground aquifers. Use of road salt has elevated chloride concentrations in lakes and ponds adjacent to highways in the Park by more than twenty times, on average, when compared with Forest Preserve lakes and ponds far from our highways.

A key finding in the report is that road salt impacts on waters and forests, to say nothing of the impact on steel (our cars and bridges) and concrete, have hidden costs that in dollar amounts are more than twice what is spent to lay down a road mile of salt. Canada lists sodium chloride deicers as toxic material. Excessive road salting has polluted municipal wells in Keene and Lake Pleasant, resulting in great expense to restore potable drinking water to these communities.

While completely replacing sodium chloride with alternative deicers in the Adirondacks is not realistic, the report lists key actions and practices which could greatly reduce impacts and amounts of traditional deicers. These include:

• road maps to help tailor amounts, methods and rates of salt applications depending on the ecology and terrain

• new computerized real time weather and road condition systems for all trucks

• fine tuning spreading equipment to reduce the amount of deicers needed to do the job effectively

• better training of all operators

• alternative deicers

The report is in, and there are clear and urgent reasons to take action. Adirondack waters are the root cause of the constitutional and other legal protections afforded the Park since 1885. The Catskill Park and region is the major source of NYC’s drinking water. If Canada can declare road salt a toxic substance, it is high time for New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo to take action by ordering a comprehensive approach to expeditiously reduce the amount of polluting, corrosive deicers in these otherwise protected Parks through use of best management practices and alternatives.

Illustrations :Surface Water and road network in the Adirondack Park, and surficial aquifers and road network, Figures 2-1 and 2-2 in “Review of Effects and Costs of Road De-icing with Recommendations for Winter road management in the Adirondack Park”.


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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Lake Champlain Bridge: A Year Later

New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Acting Commissioner Stanley Gee and Vermont Agency of Transportation Secretary David Dill marked the one year anniversary of the Lake Champlain Bridge closure on Saturday. The temporary ferry service is still in place providing round-the-clock transportation across the lake at no cost to passengers, and the underwater structures for the new bridge are nearly completed.

Following the bridge’s closure, New York and Vermont officials held a series of public meetings to gather feedback and solicit input from residents and business owners on both sides of the lake. The states then settled on a brand new Lake Champlain Bridge design at the same location (shown above).

The original Lake Champlain Bridge was among the first to use a steel truss outside of railroad bridges according to Ted Zoli, a 2009 winner of a MacArthur fellowship, who led the team designing the new bridge.

The original 2,184-ft-long truss linking Crown Point and West Addison, Vermont, completed in 1930, was a continuous (rather than segmented) truss bridge with maximum room for steamships to pass beneath. Charles M. Spofford, the orginal bridge’s designer was awarded a gold medal by the American Society of Civil Engineers for his work on the bridge, “hundreds of continuous truss bridges were built; it ushered in a whole new typology of bridge engineering,” Zoli told Adirondack Almanack contributor Anthony Hall back in January.

Water and ice took a toll and cracking in the bridge’s support piers prompted the closure and, if left untreated, could have led to structural failure and possible collapse, putting motorists and pedestrians in serious danger. By immediately closing the bridge, New York and Vermont officials say they ensured the safety of the traveling public.

“We’re not here designing a new bridge because of some flaws in the truss, but because of the piers,” Zoli said in January. “Spofford used concrete containing tailings from local iron ore mines. When he tested the concrete at MIT, we surmise that he found it to be twice as strong as conventional concrete and concluded that the piers wouldn’t require steel re-enforcement.”

In December Zoli unveiled designs for six possible bridges, The public’s favorite, a Modified Network Tied Arch Bridge, was chosen as the final design. The new bridge is expected to be safer, and also be wider, with six-foot shoulders for bicycles and a sidewalk for pedestrians.

The original Lake Champlain Bridge was demolished on December 28, 2009 and the temporary ferry, carrying motorists across Lake Champlain every 15 minutes, opened in January of 2010.

Construction on the new bridge began in June and is on schedule, according to state officials, with construction of bridge abutments and piers under way. Fabrication of the steel bridge members is progressing off-site. The project is expected to be completed as scheduled, next September.


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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Dysfunction Junction: What’s Your Function?

They call it “Crazy Corners” or “Spaghetti Junction” or “Dysfunction Junction.”

For years I’ve driven through the unique, bizarre intersection at Routes 9 and 73 in New Russia, a hamlet of Elizabethtown. For years, I’ve wondered: who on earth designed this crazy confluence, and why?

Today, the route gets about 3,200 vehicles per day, according to the state Department of Transportation, many of which are occupied by hikers, climbers or skiers heading to the High Peaks.

Those who see it for the first time are usually, at least, surprised. When Route 73 hits Route 9, the lanes split off in separate directions, crossing each other in a crazed and seemingly random pattern before coming together again. Even after driving through it for 20 years, I still get confused about where to look for oncoming traffic.

After another surreal experience driving through Dysfunction Junction recently, I decided to investigate. Whose idea was this, anyway, and what’s the point?

My first stop was Peter VanKeuren, public information officer for the state Department of Transportation in Albany. After a little research, he explained that the intersection was built in 1958, using a design that has been instituted (with slightly variations) in other areas, such as Cairo down in the Catskills. That was already news to me, because I always thought it had something to do with preparations for the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid.

According to an engineering book at the time, the design is a “bulb type-T intersection” that “favors the heavier right-turn movement from the upper to the lower left leg of the intersection. Sight distances are excellent and approach speeds are approximately 40 miles per hour.”

VanKeuren, however, was unable to explain why this intersection was chosen for this spot. The Cairo intersection, which I’ve driven through on numerous occasions, involves lanes that are already divided, so it’s less jarring. The New Russia intersection, on the other hand, is just a simple, two-lane country road.

A conversation with Conrad “Connie” Hutchins, historian for E-Town, shed some more light.

The intersection, he reminded me, was built long before the Northway, which was wasn’t completed until the late 1960s. Of course!

Before the Northway, Route 9 was the main artery between Albany and Montreal. The road was filled with motels and restaurants to accommodate the traffic. And the previous intersection — a simple stop sign — would occasionally back up with cars, according to locals alive at the time.

“Route 9 was busy,” Hutchins said of the time. “It would be a real mess if we had the traffic now that we had then.”

Taking that into account, this intersection makes sense for the time. The design allows Route 9 traffic to flow through without stopping, while anyone continuing on 73 would have to wait. Nowadays, they’d probably throw in a roundabout instead, but in the 1950s such an idea would have been seen as so foreign.

At the time the intersection opened, locals didn’t really take much notice of it, said Nancy Doyle, whose husband Walter worked on its construction. “If you follow the signs, it’s no big deal,” she said.

Calvin Wrisley, 61, a lifelong resident of the town, says he doesn’t remember any bad accidents occurring there. “I think it’s fairly safe.”

Of course, now the intersection makes less sense. Most traffic is heading not northeast on Route 9, but northwest on 73 — especially on weekends. And today’s drivers, used to traffic circles and traffic lights, are often flummoxed when they are confronted with this intersection for the first time.

Looking back, the choice certainly seems at least a bit short-sighted. After all, plans for the Northway were already underway when this intersection was being constructed. Did no one think: “Hey, when the Northway opens, traffic on Route 9 will be totally different…”

Still, if it’s any consolation, the state won’t be using this design anymore. Not because it’s unsafe or, yes, dysfunctional. But for another reason, says VanKeuren: it takes up too much space.

Alan Wechsler is a freelance writer living in the Capital Region of New York. He is a frequent visitor to the Adirondacks.


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Monday, February 22, 2010

Road Salt Study Raises Concerns, Offers Suggestions

A new study on roadway de-icing in the Adirondacks describes an antiquated, ineffective, expensive, and environmentally damaging system in need of revision. Commissioned by the non-partisan political action committee AdkAction.org, the science was compiled by Daniel L. Kelting, Executive Director of the Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) at Paul Smith’s College, and Corey L. Laxson, Research Associate. The findings are available online [pdf] and are being distributed to the New York State Department of Transportation and local governments responsible for salting Adirondack roadways.

The report argues that “the use of best management practices can reduce the negative impacts of road salt on the environment, while simultaneously improving road safety and saving money.” A number of studies cited in the report have documented road salt’s negative effects on forest and aquatic environments, drinking water, vehicles, safety, and transportation infrastructure.

Ernest E. (Lee) Keet, chair of Adk Action’s Water Quality Committee said “We cannot afford to continue replacing wells contaminated by road salt, having deteriorated bridges and guardrails, living with rusted automobiles and trucks and dead roadside trees, instead of improving our practices.”

The study found that the misuse of road salt is favoring invasive species like zebra mussels and milfoil and having negative effects on human and animal health. The study also reports that chloride levels (a major component of road salt) in Adirondack lakes far from roadways are under 1 part per million (ppm), but at lakes near roadways chloride levels are considerablly higher. Cascade Lake, with its close proximity to Route 86, a heavily treated highway, was highest at 51 ppm; Lake Colby, 46 ppm; Paradox Lake, 14 ppm; Blue Mountain, 13 ppm; Chazy 13 ppm; Lower St Regis, 13 ppm; Chateauguay, 11 ppm; Schroon, 11 ppm; and Middle Saranac, 6 ppm.

Road salt has increased chloride levels in lakes near salted roads in the Adirondack Park, it kills trees and plants, and impacts fish, wildlife and human health, but there are safety concerns as well. Road salt draws deer to roadsides where they become a danger to drivers, and create standing puddles of slush and water that are worse for traction than hard-packed snow. Drivers, especially those unfamiliar with local conditions, may tend to drive at unsafe speeds on what appear to be clear roads, only to discover more deadly slushy areas, snow covered patches, or shaded areas covered with ice.

This latest study, which follows a report by the Adirondack Council that drew many of the same conclusions last year [pdf], also found that New York State is one of the least progressive states in adopting alternatives to road salt. Anti-icing measures (preventing snow and ice from bonding to roadways) can reduce costs by more than 50 percent the study found compared to traditional methods of spreading chemicals after snow and ice have accumulated.

Fifty percent of vehicle corrosion can be attributed to the regular use of road de-icing salts, according to the study’s authors, annually costing the vehicle owners approximately $11.7 billion nationwide. The annual cost of corrosion damage on automobile parts, highway components, steel reinforcement bars, and concrete has been estimated to be as high as $26 billion nationwide the report found.

These are some of the best management practices proposed in the AWI salt study:

* Develop a map of sensitive areas and use it to tailor application rates, methods and de-icer types to minimize environmental impacts.

* Invest in a networked Road Weather Information System (RWIS) similar to systems in use around the country. These systems can pay for themselves in one winter with the savings from lower application costs.

* Proactively use anti-icing techniques to prevent snow and ice from bonding to road surfaces to achieve better road conditions, use up to 50% fewer chemicals and control costs and damage.

* Employ smart application techniques. Conventional rotary spreaders throw over 30% of de-icer outside the planned treatment area. Use a “windrowing” technique to concentrate a 4 to 8-foot wide strip down the centerline of lesser-traveled roads. Use “zero-velocity” spreaders to place de-icer on the road surface with little bouncing and waste.

* Pre-wet the de-icer to create brine delivered in a spray, resulting in faster melting and de-icer savings.

* Use alternative de-icers in areas designated as too sensitive for road salt but also with high-risk safety concerns (such as the Cascade Lakes area on Route 86, an area where all Adirondackers can readily observe the deleterious effects of road salt.)

* Improve documentation and training to insure that road salt, when used, is applied at correct temperatures and alternative techniques are applied at low temperatures and around environmentally sensitive areas.

* Other recommendations include giving the de-icer time to work before re-plowing, maintaining and calibrating equipment properly, educating the public on the new policies and establishing test areas to monitor and evaluate implementation.


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Sunday, February 7, 2010

APA to Meet This Week:Keene Cell Tower, Luzerne Milfoil, Wilmington Hotel, DOT Signage

The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) will meet on Thursday February 11 and Friday February 12, 2010 at APA Headquarters in Ray Brook. The APA board will be considering a 129-foot cell tower proposed for Keene Valley, the use the herbicide Triclopyr to control Eurasian milfoil in Lake Luzerne, the Whiteface Overlook hotel project in Wilmington, and a presentation by NYS DOT Region 2 Director Michael Shamma on Adirondack Park Signage. There will be informational presentations, though no action, on the Jay Mountain Wilderness Area and the Hurricane Mountain Primitive Area Unit Management Plans, and also on the economic benefits of mountain biking.

The two-day meeting will be webcast live on the Agency’s website at http://www.apa.state.ny.us. Materials for the meeting can be found at http://www.apa.state.ny.us/Mailing/2010/02/index.htm.

Here is the text of the agency’s meeting announcement:

The Full Agency will convene on Thursday morning at 9:00 for the Executive Director’s report. This month Terry Martino will highlight 2009 agency activities and accomplishments.

At 10:00 a.m., the Regulatory Programs Committee will consider a Verizon Wireless application for construction of a telecommunication tower. The tower would be located behind the Neighborhood House on the east side of NYS Route 73 (Main Street, Keene Valley), in the Town of Keene, Essex County. The proposed 129 foot tower would be designed as a simulated white pine tree.

The committee meeting will also deliberate an application submitted by the Town of Lake Luzerne to use the herbicide Triclopyr (Renovate® OTF) to control Eurasian watermilfoil in Lake Luzerne. The town proposes to apply 1560 pounds of the granular formulation of Renovate to an 11 acre area of Lake Luzerne known as the “South End.” The town wants to manage moderate to dense beds of milfoil growth in order to improve the ecological, recreational, and aesthetic values of Lake Luzerne.

The committee will also consider the Whiteface Overlook proposal in the Town of Wilmington, Essex County. This project involves conversion of a pre-existing resort hotel structure into 3 new structures each containing four, 3-bedroom dwelling units. The project site is located adjacent to NYS Route 86 across the highway from Whiteface Mountain.

At 1:00, the State Land Committee will hear a statewide fire tower study presentation from DEC staff. The committee will also receive informational presentations on the proposed Jay Mountain Wilderness Area Unit Management Plan and the Hurricane Mountain Primitive Area Unit Management Plan. All presentations are informational and the committee will take no action on these matters this month.

At 3:00, the Park Ecology Committee will be provided an overview from Dr. Michale Glennon of the Wildlife Conservation Society Adirondack Communities and Conservation Program on Exurban development. Agency staff will also demonstrate GIS tools used when reviewing permit applications which include activities that could potentially result in impacts to open space resources.

At 4:00, the Full Agency will convene to take action as necessary and conclude the Thursday session with committee reports, public and member comment.

On Friday, February 12 at 9:00 a.m., the Economic Affairs committee will come to order for a presentation from Tim Tierney, Executive Director of Kingdom Trails Association of East Burke, Vermont. Mr. Tierney will provide a unique perspective on economic development opportunities related to mountain biking. The Kingdom Trails Association manages an extensive multi-use trail system for summer and winter recreation which generates economy benefits for the East Burke area of Vermont.

The February meeting will conclude at 10:00 with a presentation from NYS DOT Region 2 Director Michael Shamma on Adirondack Park Signage.

Meeting materials are available for download from the Agency’s website at:

http://www.apa.state.ny.us/Mailing/2010/02/index.htm

The next agency meeting is March 11-12, 2010 at the Adirondack Park Agency Headquarters.

April Agency Meeting: April 15-16 2010 at the Adirondack Park Agency Headquarters.


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Thursday, December 17, 2009

Crown Point Bridge Design Recomendation Made

New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) announced today both a public survey and the agencies’ Public Advisory Committee (PAC) agree on what the new Crown Point – Chimney Point bridge (officially known as the Lake Champlain Bridge) should look like. The survey and PAC recommendation “will be one of many factors considered” according to officials in choosing a replacement bridge design. The co-lead agencies on the project (VAOT, NYSDOT, and FHWA) have not yet made an official decision and cannot do so until after January 11, 2010 when the comment period for Consulting Parties officially ends.

“A public survey conducted on NYSDOT’s web site showed an overwhelming majority of people favor the Modified Network Tied Arch Bridge concept as a replacement,” DOT officials announced “More than 3,500 people weighed in to cast their vote for the replacement design.” The Public Advisory Committee issued a final recommendation to replace the existing structure with a Modified Network Tied Arch Bridge (above).

Here is more form the announcement:

New York and Vermont created the PAC to gather input from the public, elected officials and other interested groups on bridge replacement alternatives, aesthetics of and amenities of the new structure. The PAC made its recommendation to the two states at a meeting Tuesday in Ticonderoga.

The Modified Network Tied Arch Bridge is a steel structure with a handle-like arch along the main span. Multiple redundancies in the design make this bridge significantly safer than the existing structure and ensure at least a 75-year service life. The design also is visually pleasing, complementing the mountainous back drop.

The 80-year-old Lake Champlain Bridge, which was closed in October, is expected to be demolished soon.


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Monday, October 26, 2009

Public Meetings This Week on Lake Champlain Bridge

NYS DOT has announced a schedule of public meetings about repairs to the Crown Point Bridge and interim lake crossing options. The first meeting is tomorrow on the Vermont side. There will be a meeting in Moriah Wednesday. Details are available at this Web site the state established to provide updates about the bridge, and in a DOT press release, below:

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and Vermont Agency of Transportation will host two public information meetings regarding available transportation alternatives for crossing Lake Champlain and the plan to repair and reopen the Lake Champlain Bridge spanning from Crown Point, New York, to Chimney Point, Vermont.

The first meeting will be held Tuesday, October 27, at the Addison Central School located at 121 Vermont Rte. 17W, Addison, Vermont. The second meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 28 at the Moriah Central School located at 29 Viking Lane in Port Henry, New York, and will be attended by representatives from New York’s State Emergency Management Office. Both meetings will begin at 7:00 p.m.

Both schools are accessible to persons with disabilities. If a sign language interpreter, assistive listening system or any other accommodation is required to facilitate participation, please contact James Boni, P. E., Project Manager, at (518) 388-0239, write to NYSDOT Region One Design, 328 State Street, Schenectady, N. Y. 12305 or submit an e-mail to R01-LakeChamplainBridge@dot.state.ny.us. (NYS Department of Transportation press contact Charles Carrier, 518-457-6400.)

This story in today’s Press-Republican quotes Crown Point supervisor Dale French saying he heard Gov. David Paterson might attend Wednesday’s meeting in Moriah.

Here’s a story about economic hardship caused by the bridge closure from NCPR’s Brian Mann this morning.


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