Liberty Street bridge will close Sept. 13

    PENN YAN—Liberty Street bridge in Penn Yan is now slated to close on Monday, Sept. 12. Penn Yan Public Works Director Brent Bodine said this is the most recent date provided to him from New York State Department of Transportation. Bodine said the original target date for closing the bridge was right after Labor Day. The change in the start date is expected to extend the project completion date from just before Memorial Day 2012 to the first or second week in June 2012.
    Preliminary preparations have been underway for some time. The current road work on one northbound lane of the bridge is not about the actual construction. Verizon is working at the site to get their interests out of the way. Crews were preparing to set new poles for signal lights Monday, Aug. 8.
    Bodine said the construction period, “Will be painful, but it’s better to have it all at once rather than over two years.”  Early in the process, the village was offered the options of having the bridge replaced at one time or having half replaced at a time. Bodine said the decision to replace the bridge al at once was made by the village board. A traffic plan has been developed to assist in traffic flow during the time the bridge is closed. During construction, traffic will be rerouted to the Main Street Bridge. Changes to traffic patterns downtown will also be put into effect.