Berne Highway Superintendent Randy Bashwinger said that the highway department followed the proper protocol when closing the section of Bridge Road where a vehicle recently upended itself, but Councilman Joel Willsey has written in a letter to the Enterprise editor this week that flaggers or barriers should have been in place to prevent an accident like this.

BERNE — The Albany County Department of Public Works announced on Friday evening that, effective immediately, cars and trucks with weights exceeding 10 tons are prohibited from traveling on County Route 6 (Ravine Road) over the White Birch Pond Outlet, which is 200 feet south of Partridge Run Road in the Town of Berne.

A request for a speed-limit reduction was met with disappointment in Knox. But an expert believes speed-limit reductions are not always the answers for traffic safety.

It’s been closed for nine years, but once the rebuild starts, the Weaver Road bridge should be completed in about three months, officials say.

The town now plans to hire a full-time, not part-time, planner.

The draft of a shared-services plan for Albany County includes a recommendation to consolidate the town of Berne’s highway department with the county’s Department of Public Works.

The schedule was moved up by about a year, and the town intends to request the speed limit be lowered along the route following its repaving.

State funds have been awarded for roads in New Scotland and Berne, part of a $27.8 million package to repair 134.2 lane miles of state roads across the Capital Region this summer and fall.

Paving and repair work will take place on:

Some board members expressed concern over aging or disabled residents living on a portion of Stage Road closed for the winter, while highway Superintendent Randy Bashwinger said it was a dangerous intersection to plow.

A town board meeting in Berne last week saw notifications of seasonal road closings and an arranged fee schedule for Switzkill Farm.