County Highway Committee Provides Updates on Bridge Projects

East River Crossing road-bridge in the town of Homer. (Photo Source: Kevin L. Smith of The Cortland Voice).

The County Legislature’s Highway Committee unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday to move the East River Crossing roadbridge from the town of Homer to the Town of Cincinnatus, where it will be turned into a snowmobile bridge.

The bridge’s new location will be near Route 41 in Cincinnatus. Cortland County Highway superintendent Charles Sudbrink said Tuesday the project was planned as a reconstruction of the bridge located between East River Crossing Road and Rt. 13 in the Town of Homer. The move comes after BridgeNY officials deemed the bridge a “historical bridge.”

“There is extra money and effort to relocate this bridge and not reconstruct it,” he said. He noted this project will not start until 2024. “There will be a plaque designating it as a historical bridge at the new location.”

The resolution, approved by the county committee, notes that “during the course of the design phase of said project, it was determined that the bridge carrying East River Crossing was eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, which requires the preparation of a finding document, an alternative analysis and a memorandum of agreement (to meet state and federal requirements).”

The design of the replacement project will be helmed by Syracuse engineering firm Barton and Loguidice, the resolution states. There is a local share cost of approximately $25,000 for the county, according to the resolution.

BridgeNY is a statewide infrastructure rehabilitation program that bases its grant evaluations on the structural condition of the bridges, as well as its resiliency and significance based upon traffic volumes, detour considerations, and the commercial impact of the bridges.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the committee also unanimously approved the bid for the McGraw - Marathon road bridge, which will cost around $1.57 million and will be covered under BridgeNY funds. The bid was awarded to Vector Construction Corporation in Cicero. Subdrink said construction will start in mid-to-late June this year and will finish around Thanksgiving.