Rebuild of Weaver Road bridge may start in June
The Enterprise — Michael Koff
Weaver Road, which formerly let out onto Route 146, has been a dead-end street for nine years, since the closure of the bridge over the Black Creek. The road’s only entrance is on the western end, at Hawes Road, but that may soon change.
GUILDERLAND — Once contracts are signed, plans are to rebuild the Weaver Road bridge over the Black Creek near Route 146 this summer, according to new Guilderland highway Superintendent Gregory Wier and county spokeswoman Mary Rozak.
The county received bids for the project in April and has reviewed them and determined the low bidder, Wier said. That bid, by Carver Construction, was for $410,450.
The bridge is county-owned, but the roads leading to it are owned by the town.
Albany County Department of Public Works Commissioner Lisa Ramundo said that the project is “100 percent county funded.”
The funding would be from capital-projects funding, said Rozak.
The bridge, built in 1975, before steel concrete beams were used, has been closed since 2009.
Access since the closure has been through the road’s western end, at the intersection of Hawes Road and Route 146.
Since Hawes Road is just below the crest of a hill, some residents have complained that it is difficult to see while making turns there.
The new bridge would allow access through the road’s eastern end, at Osborn Road.
This entrance is near Phillips Hardware and Hurst Road, which are both sites of approved or proposed development projects. Neighbors have expressed concerns about possible increases in traffic in the area.
Once the plan to repair the bridge receives final approval, work is expected to start in June and be finished by about Labor Day, said Wier, based on information he said he received from William Anslow of the county’s Department of Public Works.
The county will do substructure work below the bridge, in the creek, Wier said, and then build a new substructure and new decking and finishing with new railing and paving.
The county will match the paving into the town’s roads, Wier said. Then, once the bridge is completed, the town will be responsible for plowing and maintaining the surface, he added.
The county will maintain the bridge structure, Rozak said. The decking will be made of glue-laminated timber, she said, adding that is standard for all county structures.
