ELIZABETHTOWN –— County supervisors on Monday implored New York and Vermont governors to declare a state of emergency over closure of the Champlain Bridge.
They want a federal response, as well.
Essex County declared a state of emergency Friday, when the bridge between Crown Point, NY, and Chimney Point, Vt., was barricaded due to structural damage.
BIG IMPACT
“This is far, far more than an inconvenience,” said Ticonderoga Supervisor Robert Dedrick.
“What I’m so irritated about is that we knew four years ago this bridge would be in this type of disrepair. I would have liked to see (a disaster plan) go into effect immediately.
“My phone has rung off the hook, people have visited my office, people have visited my home … I know people have already turned in their (quit-work) notices; they can’t get over there.”
Outrage about the situation echoed across the county, especially in eastern towns, where many people travel to and from Vermont to work.
“I had one family call; they were crying,” said Westport Supervisor Dan Connell.
“The told me, ‘We have to quit our jobs; we can’t afford $100 week for the ferry.’
“If we were over in Iraq, there would be a temporary bridge in there quick,” he added. “The answer is we’ve got to get a temporary bridge in there.”
FARM IMPACT
Costs for car travel round trip on the Essex ferry amount to $533 per month via Lake Champlain Transportation Co., which has added a third ferry and extended hours to 10 p.m.
The Ticonderoga ferry costs $200 a month round trip for cars with a cash discount, or $280 without.
“If it were somewhere else, there would be a bridge in there,” said Chesterfield Supervisor Gerry Morrow, predicting disaster for farmers with crops and animals on both sides of Lake Champlain.
“Every year, we’ve been warning you about this, but it fell on deaf ears.”
SAFETY ISSUES
Essex Supervisor Ronald Jackson, who is an emergency medical technician, said bridge closure adds at least 40 minutes of ambulance transport time to the trauma center at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington.
He said federal emergency funding could be used to subsidize ferry crossings at Essex and Ticonderoga to keep boats running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as a measure of public safety.
COMMUTERS STUCK
Moriah resident Mike Denney sat in the gallery for the special meeting; he works at Goodrich in Vergennes, Vt., about a half-hour north of the Crown Point bridge.
Denney said 105 Goodrich employees alone commute from New York to Vermont.
“We started brainstorming what we could do,” he said after the meeting.
If a commuter bus could bring people from a central parking area to ride the ferries as foot passengers, it would save considerable cost.
Foot passage costs $2 a day round trip on the Ticonderoga Ferry and $6.25 a day on the Essex Ferry.
“But there is nothing on the Vermont side for shuttle,” Denney said.
Goodrich management was meeting Monday to address the situation, he said, but the company and its commuting employees were caught unawares.
“This all happened so quickly.”
Denney clocked the commute home Friday, going around the lake through Whitehall to Moriah, at 90.9 miles.
FUND RAIDED
Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward (R-Willsboro) addressed supervisors, asking them to gather facts and figures to account for fiscal impact to help push for federal emergency status.
“To blame (Department of Transportation) for the disrepair of this bridge and the condition it is in is wrong,” she said.
Blame, she said, is “square in the feet” of the State Legislature.
DOT has one of the largest budgets in the state and is often where legislators go to raid funds.
“The only solution is a temporary bridge,” Sayward said.
Obtaining state and federal emergency would remove red tape, releasing a quick response to the situation, said Crown Point Supervisor Dale French, who has a location planned for a temporary bridge south of the existing structure.
“The governors need to declare a state of emergency,” Scozzafava said.
“The reason we don’t have a bridge is they’ve been listening to special-interest groups. Special-interest groups are the working people now.”
INCLINE CRACK
DOT Regional Engineer Michael Fayette gave supervisors a detailed description of what they found wrong with the bridge.
Water levels have dropped a foot since summer, and inspectors observed an incline crack on Pier 5 on the New York side.
An “incline crack is something that is at an angle, where the whole thing could go on a sheer,” Fayette said.
When the Champlain Bridge was built 80 years ago, piers were made with nothing but concrete.
“This incline crack could go suddenly,” Fayette said.
It would likely take other piers down with it.
Fayette said divers would observe pier foundations this week to see how or if they could be repaired.
He offered no time frame for reopening the bridge.
“I wish I could say. I’m not going to know anything until noon today. What I’m terrified of is, last Oct. 13, we plowed snow.” This situation is a double whammy, Fayette said: “It’s underwater.”
FRUSTRATED
Eight supervisors met with State Emergency Management Office Director John R. Gibb in Crown Point later Monday afternoon to discuss impact of bridge closure.
County and state emergency services personnel, State Police Troop B Major Richard Smith Jr., representatives from Gov. David Paterson’s office, Sen. Betty Little (R-Queensbury) and Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward (R-Willsboro) were there.
Supervisors came away from the discussion frustrated.
“We want a temporary bridge, that’s all,” French said.
Gibbs said they would only declare a state disaster emergency “if that’s going to be needed to speed things along.”
Ambulances carry some 50 patients across the bridge every month, Jackson said.
So far, no emergency plan is in place other than to drive entirely around Lake Champlain, adding 40 minutes to the trip.
“We are seeing if we can get a subsidy to keep the ferry running 24/7,” Jackson said.
Another temporary plan is to alert ferry operators to hold the boat if an ambulance needs to cross the lake.
Gibbs did not say why an emergency plan was not developed while the bridge was under repair this summer.
“We had full expectation the bridge would reopen to two-way traffic,” he said.
SHUTTLES
Nancy Dougal, Essex County Transportation coordinator, is working with Vermont Transit to set up bus shuttles on the Vermont side of both ferries and is building a shuttle schedule for commuters.
As soon as the schedule is set, it will be posted online.
Essex County Ride Share is on the county home page at:
www.co.essex.ny.us/Essex CountyRideShare/Signup.aspx
E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at:
kdedam@pressrepublican.com
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