Politics
At the May 21st Town Board meeting, Lancaster resident Roy Schneggenburger expressed his opinion that Supervisor Robert Giza was not doing enough to address the dangerous condition of the Cemetery Road Bridge.
Last night, Schneggenburger attended both the Lancaster Central School Board and Town Board meetings to again warn of the bridge’s deteriorating condition and the danger to school bus and other vehicles traveling on this busy north-south connector road, located between Walden Avenue and Broadway.
When demanding the town “do something about the deplorable, disintegrating bridge condition, this accident waiting to happen”, Supervisor Giza informed Schneggenburger at the May 21st town board meeting that the bridge and the roads belonged to the county and that the town had no authority to shut the bridge down, nor were they obligated to replace the bridge.
“Go to County Hall,” advised Giza. “See Kathy Konst, she’s your county representative.”
Schneggenburger did just that. He did contact County Legislator Kathy Konst. He went to County Hall and spoke with two representatives of the Erie County Department of Public Works – PE’s Edward Conboy Jr. and Wayne Scibor. He FOILED for information and filed an appeal when the information did not come in the time frame required by law.
He sent a correspondence to the Lancaster Central School District and attended the School Board meeting last night to warn of the potential danger to the twenty school busses traveling daily over the bridge.
You (Giza)tell us that if we see something to say something,” declared Schneggenburger. “Well I did see something. Now I am alerting the town about it and you are telling me there is nothing you can do about it.”
Council Member Mark Montour informed Schneggenburger that the town has sent comments to the county on the bridge.
Legislator Konst responds
Although out of town the past week County Legislator Konst kept abreast of the media and resident reports and clocked in the following resolution Monday, June 4, 2007. Hopefully some answers to the many questions and concerns can be answered about the bridge’s safety and expected time of replacement.
RESOLUTION TO BE SUMMITTED BY LEGISLATOR KONST
RE: CEMETERY ROAD BRIDGE
WHEREAS, there has been much public concern and attention drawn to the county bridge that’s located in the town of Lancaster on Cemetery Road which crosses over Erie Street, and
WHEREAS, this bridge is a major connecting route between Broadway and Walden Ave., serving as a significant north-south corridor between Lancaster, Elma, Alden and Clarence,
and
WHEREAS, bridges have a life expectancy of approximately 50 years, and
WHEREAS, the Cemetery Road Bridge is approximately 70 years old, and
WHEREAS, for the past 12 years this bridge has had a net attached to the underside of the bridge on Erie Street to catch large chucks of falling concrete, which causes concern to drivers and nearby residents, and
WHEREAS, Erie County has approximately 625 bridges under its jurisdiction of which 260 are inspected by the New York State Department of Transportation, and
WHEREAS, New York State Department of Transportation notified Erie County on November 16, 2006 that the Cemetery Road Bridge received a Yellow Structural Flag, a condition described as follows:
The End Bearings are expansion and are high steel rockers rotating on a pin. Both bearings have 100% paint loss which has resulted in delamination. Corrosion has extended down to the anchor bolts which have section loss. The backside anchor bolts have higher amounts of section loss. Severe spalling of the back wall behind both girders has dumped large amounts of gravel and mushy concrete onto the bearings. This has attributed to the accelerated corrosion to the backside of the bearing and the anchor bolts. Both bearings are overextended toward the back wall. The left bearing has rotated 13 degrees from plumb and the right bearing has rotated 14 degrees from plumb. Comparing the rotation of the bearing to the 1996 inspection, the Left bearing was 11 degrees from plumb and the right was also 11 degrees from plum. The back wall is located only 55mm from the end of the Right girder and 70mm from the left girder. Both bearing are almost maxed out.
WHEREAS, an investigative report by Luke Moretti of TV Channel 4 showed the State Report and pictures of the bridge to Dr. Aghayere, a Civil Engineer from RIT, and his response was that the bridge should be red flagged, and
WHEREAS, the Cemetery Road bridge is not the only bridge in the town of Lancaster with deplorable conditions, and
WHEREAS, Stony Road Bridge over Ellicott Creek was just reduced from 5 ton capacity to 3 ton capacity, and
WHEREAS, School buses have been ordered not to travel on the bridge, and
WHEREAS, these bridges have local traffic as well as school children traveling by bus on them each day, and
WHEREAS, these bridges have become public safety issues for the residents of Lancaster
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT
RESOLVED, that the Erie County Legislature recognizes the importance of having a properly maintained road and bridge system throughout all municipalities in Erie County, and be it further
RESOLVED, that this Honorable Body does hereby request that the Erie County Department of Public Works and Division of Highways (DPW) attend the next meeting of the Erie County Public Safety Committee to address this legislature on our concerns regarding the safety conditions of the Cemetery Road Bridge, what action is being taken to address the public safety concerns on the bridge, why the bridge has gone 12 years without repair, and what action is being taken to immediately remedy the situation, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the DPW address its intentions for maintenance and remediation of the Stony Road Bridge, and be it further
RESOLVED, that certified copies of this resolution e sent to Erie County Executive Joel Giambra, Department of Public Works Commissioner John Loffredo, Division of Highways Deputy Commissioner Gerard Sentz and Division of Budget, Management and Finance Director James Hartman
Fiscal Impact: None for resolution
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