Work on Tom Miller Road bridge project stopped

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April 28, 2010

By JOE LoTEMPLIO Staff Writer The Press Republican Wed Apr 28, 2010, 09:09 AM EDT

PLATTSBURGH — Work on the Tom Miller Road bridge project has stalled as payments to the contractor have dried up.

Luck Brothers Construction, the main contractor on the job, has pulled out until the state makes due on payments.

Work stopped on Friday, April 16, and it is uncertain when it will resume.

"The sub-contractors are always the last ones to get paid, and they are not going to come to work if they aren't going to get paid," said Jamie Hemingway, spokesperson for Luck Brothers.

Work on the $5.7 million bridge replacement over the Adirondack Northway began about a year ago. The completion date is Nov. 30 of this year, but Luck Brothers was way ahead of schedule.

New York State Department of Transportation Engineer in Charge Dean DeWitt said the bridge could have been completed by the Fourth of July.

"Now who knows," DeWitt said. "It depends on when they come back."

While the project is incomplete, the bridge is passable and remains open.

Payments to Luck Brothers and many other contractors around the state ceased on April 1 as the state budget became officially late.

Assemblywoman Janet Duprey (R-Peru) said that withholding payments to contractors makes no sense.

"The money has already been borrowed and is there. These contracts have been signed, and work is going on, and there is no reason why the governor (David Paterson) won't let this money flow."

Duprey said the Assembly Republicans, who are in the minority, put together an amendment that would allow funding for the contracts to be paid, but they could not get enough Democrats to join them.

Duprey also said they were informed that even if such an amendment were approved, the governor would veto it.

"This is just the opposite of what the stimulus package was supposed to do," she said. "It was supposed to put people to work, and when one of the best companies in the North Country (Luck Brothers) has to close down work, that affects the local economy."

The Tom Miller Road bridge project is funded with a combination of federal and state money that is channeled through the state.

Hemingway said about 10 to 12 workers on the bridge project had to be laid off temporarily because of the shutdown, and three subcontractors are also out of work.

"We have other jobs pending, but the state has not signed off on them yet, so who knows what is going to happen," she said.