OXFORD – As always, the start of the new school year heralds an escalation in traffic, but this year residents and travelers through the Village of Oxford might need a refresher course in the hazards of a congested detour. With the Oxford Main Street bridge unfinished, drivers are still funneling into the narrow confines of the Albany Street detour.
The diciest segment of the detour, where Route 220 intersects country Road 32, has always been “a major concern,” said Oxford Fire Chief Mike Cobb.
“A lot of people just do not realize how fast they are going coming down the hill,” Mayor Terry Stark said. “It has always been a dangerous intersection, but people say it has been compounded by the detour,” he continued.
The discovery of a major crack in the foundation of the old bridge more than a decade ago laid the groundwork for its inevitable demise late last year. After months of work, detours and inconvenience, it is nearing its completion – now scheduled for the end of September or early October.
Originally the village looked into replacing the old truss bridge with a similar design, but it proved too costly in the planning stages, reaching an estimated $3 million. Even so, the current bridge under construction has exceeded its own initial price tag, surpassing $3 million. “Of course if this bridge has already reached $3 million, one can only imagine what a truss bridge would have ended up costing,” said Stark.
Although the anticipated finalization of construction is a little behind earlier estimates, completion will still fall pretty close and be well ahead of the contracted timetable, said Stark.
Since the closing of the bridge, there has been a great deal more traffic and noise, reported a resident of Albany Street. But during the summer, with school out of session, drivers grew accustomed to fewer cars using the detour, said Stark.
“Drivers need to be aware of how fast they are going coming down the hill,” the mayor said, and he asks that commuters pay extra attention now that school’s resumed. Concern is warranted, as accidents at the Route 220/Rd 32 intersection have increased “probably tenfold since the bridge went down,” said Chief Cobb.
The absence of the bridge has also affected the response time of the fire department. “Fortunately nothing major has happened on the west side; we’ve been pretty lucky,” Cobb said. Still the fire department has had its “fingers crossed for a year,” he said, and they along with the rest of Oxford are “excited for the bridge to be done.”
Along with the anticipated reopening of the bridge, the village has applied for a state grant to help Oxford business owners along state Route 12 revitalize the downtown area. The results of that application are due back some time in February, with the effects reaching fruition sometime next year. The village is also in the final stages of negotiating with New York State’s Environmental Facilities Corporation for a zero-interest loan, needed to update Oxford’s wastewater treatment plant. The treatment plant is about 20 years old and needs repairs in order to last another 20, said Stark. Work on the plant began two years ago and has already cost $500,000. The project’s total estimated cost, in excess of $2 million, will be covered by the EFC loan, he said.