PLYMOUTH – It would cost the roughly $225,000 to repair the old state Rt. 23 bridge in the Town of Plymouth, Chenango County Public Works Director Randy Gibbon said.
It will cost about $75,000 to remove it, he told Plymouth residents at the town meeting Monday.
About 40 cars pass over the bridge twice daily to connect to state Rt. 23, the county estimates. One resident says three school buses use it regularly.
“It’s really a convenience bridge,” said Gibbon.
The county is seeking to abandon the span, pending consent from two nearby landowners. Gibbon said he also wants to make sure there isn’t strong public sentiment against it before the county moves ahead.
“It’s not a done deal. This is what we’re looking at,” he said. “My concern is to try and plan ahead. We’d rather plan ahead for it before there’s an emergency situation.”
The 81-year-old bridge is currently safe to drive over, Gibbon says, but at least one of its concrete abutments will likely need repairs in the next five years. To get rid of it and save $175,000 that can be used on other projects “would be worth our while,” he said.
“It’s 81 years old,” said Louis Benson, one of the two residents who has to sign-off on the abandonment before it’s official. “I don’t like it, but you can’t fight it.”
An alternate route would detour travelers a half mile east to Rt. 23, Gibbon explained. Those headed to and from Norwich would not see much difference in their travel time, he said.
According to county plans, the highway department would upgrade an intersection along the detour, as well as flatten out a sharp curve to make the road more navigable. Tentative plans also call for the abutments to be left in and used as foundations for dry fire hydrants, allowing local fire departments to draw water from the creek. Turn-arounds for buses and trucks will also be created.
Since most emergency squads would be coming from the east, response times to old state Rt. 23, Daniels Road and Montgomery Road should not be affected, the county concluded.
If the plan moves forward, removal of the bridge could start this fall.
Here are other notes from Monday’s Plymouth town meeting:
• Town officials say they’re working informally with an engineer to develop concepts for the new building plan that will add town offices to the fire house on Rt. 23.
The engineer is only helping on a volunteer basis to get the project started, Supervisor Jerry Kreiner made clear.
“We hammered out what our basic needs are,” he said.
The town is looking to add office space to the community area of the fire house – which was the original plan when the building was constructed – for the supervisor, court justices, assessor, clerk and town records. The engineer is set to draw up a foot print of how those needs will fit with the current space available of the east side of the building.
There will be a building plan work session at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25 at the fire house.
• The Plymouth Watershed Committee received 12,000 willows from the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Trout Unlimited to plant along the Canasawacta Creek to stabilize the banks from erosion. The committee is looking for youth volunteer programs to help plant them.