Tobacco Money Will Fix Bridges

Source from:  By Eric Reinagel • Press & Sun-Bulletin • June 26, 2008 06/27/2008

Tioga County is using this year's remaining $2.9 million of its $5 million tobacco settlement money to repair bridges found to be deficient in state inspections. With the help of other state and federal funding, the tobacco settlement money has been stretched over three years and is specifically earmarked for: * $1,137,000 for two bridges on East River Road in the Town of Nichols, scheduled to be completed Oct. 1. * $600,863 for Halsey Valley Road Bridge over Catatonk Creek in the Town of Spencer, scheduled to be completed Sept. 1. * West Creek Road over West Hill Road in the Town of Candor, which is being designed. Construction is expected to start later this year. The cost will be known when the project is put out to bid. Commissioner of Public Works Ken Del Bianco said Tioga will repair 10 of the county's 12 worst bridges with the help of tobacco settlement, state and federal money by the end of this year. The only exceptions are the county's 10th-worst bridge, Southside Drive over Pumpelly Creek in the Town of Owego, and the 11th-worst bridge, Glen Mary Drive over Catatonk Creek in Town of Tioga, which currently have no funds for repairs, said Del Bianco. Glen Mary Bridge in the Town of Tioga currently has one lane blocked off because of a hole in the deck. Del Bianco said he's having engineers draw up designs to replace the deck and perform steel work on the abutments. The work is expected to be bid out by Oct. 1. But major repairs on Glen Mary and Southside will have to wait until Del Bianco can get funding. He plans to request the county legislature to fund those repairs in the 2009 and 2010 budgets. He said with the exception of the one lane on Glen Mary Drive, both bridges are safe for motorists. Del Bianco said the average life span of a bridge is 40 years and, with 77 bridges, that means at least two need to be repaired or replaced every year. "We corrected a lot of our worst situations," said Del Bianco. Enditem