Bridge work on hiatus as utilities are relocated

Thursday, July 3, 2025 - 19:29

The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer
All quiet on the Normans Kill front: Machines sit idle on Thursday, July 3, as utilities are being relocated before the Route 146 bridge, in the background, is replaced.

GUIDERLAND —Work to replace the bridge carrying State Route 146 over the Normans Kill is on hiatus until mid-summer.

The $8.9 million project to replace the 95-year-old bridge began on March 17 with Winn Construction clearing trees and grading, moving earth to reconfigure the slope near the entrance to Guilderland’s Tawasentha Park.

The work has stopped for utility relocation with bridge construction expected to begin in mid-summer, according to an April release from the state’s Department of Transportation and confirmed by a DOT spokesman this week; he did not know the utilities’ schedule.

The near-century-old three-span structure is to be replaced with a single-span bridge that is both longer and higher, raising by three feet the clearance above the Normans Kill, which has flooded in recent years. Eliminating two piers is expected to improve water flow, reducing flooding.

The project also involves building a 10-foot-wide path for walkers and cyclists, running for nearly 1,800 feet along Route 146, connecting the town’s Winter Recreation Area, east of the bridge, to the Tawasentha Park entrance, which is 700 feet west of the bridge.

Guilderland Supervisor Peter Barber has said that, eventually, the new 1,800-foot path is to be part of a longer path running from Route 20 to Guilderland Center and on to Altamont as recommended in the draft of the updated comprehensive plan for the town of Guilderland.

A temporary bridge is to be installed just north of the existing bridge to keep traffic moving during demolition of the existing bridge and construction of the new one.

The project is scheduled for completion in the fall or winter of 2026.

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