Archive: News

Just over a year ago the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) told Lansing residents at an informational meeting that the Salmon Creek Bridge west of the Lansing schools on Route 34B would be closed for much of 2019. DOT officials said the the 87 year old bridge would be demolished and entirely replaced with a new design. This month Lansing Supervisor Ed LaVigne received a letter from DOT Regional Design Engineer George A. Doucette informing him that work on the bridge will likely be postponed for a year.

"Unforeseen delays due to the need for additional environmental studies has led us to revise the project schedule," Doucette wrote. "We are now looking at bid opening in fall of 2020. The construction phase woud be ready to start early in 2021."

Doucette said that if the weather cooperates the road could reopen by the end of 2021, but added there may be additional work that would not require a detour in 2022.


The new bridge will replace the current 11 foot east and westbound lanes and narrow 3.7 foot shoulders with standard 12 foot lanes and 8 foot shoulders, two feet wider than standard shoulders. The current arch-designed bridge will be replaced with by a design that uses angled girders to distribute the weight load from the deck that will be rated for the maximum legal load for trucks. DOT officials say the new design will not have as many welds and is expected to last at least 75 years. The existing bridge was built in 1930 - the structural deck has exceeded its intended service life of 40 years by a decade.

Doucette wrote that the DOT will work with the Town to manage traffic and speed increases on local roads, including Myers Road, during the several months the detour is required.

The annual average traffic on the Salmon Creek bridge is 7,300 vehicles per day. Local automobile traffic will likely be diverted along Myers Road or routed through Ludlowville. The official detour route, especially for trucks, will be to go up and around along Route 34 and Route 90. Heavy trucks will be prohibited on local roads, but emergency vehicles will be permitted to use the local roads.

The original plan was to restrict the duration of the detour to with a single year, and Doucette says that is still the DOT's plan.

"We are still striving to keep the offsite detour duration to one year by opening bids in the early fall," he wrote. "This will allow us to order materials and begin site preparation work in the fall and then utilize the full construction season starting the spring of the following year."

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