Portageville Bridge Replacement, Future Tier Traffic

Maybe some Yuengling!

Will there be public notice when this meeting will take place? Letchworth Park would be the ideal place to hold this meeting as it involves the Park directly. At the north end of the Park at the Highbanks recreation area, there are a couple of very nice roomy shelters that would work great for an informational meeting. I am excited to see this project move ahead as I have been watching it for several years now. I spend a lot of time in the area of the Portage High Bridge hiking and I am positive this new bridge will be a big improvement to the rail system and will look much better than its predecessor. This new bridge will resemble a rainbow over the falls with its arch design, and I am sure that once it is complete and the old bridge is removed that everyone will agree that this is a good improvement. I heard that they may be shutting the Portageville entrance off for a period of about 3 years to complete this project.

-Paleoman-

Anyone know if any work has been started on this bridge project, I have not heard or read anything recently ?

DECA wrote:Anyone know if any work has been started on this bridge project, I have not heard or read anything recently ?

i was down there 9 days ago... and no sign of imminent construction. Would NS even want to start building a new bridge with winter approaching? (This assumes the new bridge is coming soon, and that may or may not be the case.)

Why would anyone assume that construction has started when ns has stated that a new bridge will not be started until late 2013 at earliest a year away. So the only new thing to see is many new people on the bridge looking at the view.The best thing ns could do is include a pedestrian walkway under the track to give people the view safely but there will be always someone wanting to play chicken with a three engine 120 car train. This walkway should be required by nys for using state money for that bridge.

I agree on the walkway, but only if the state forever imdemnified NS, and any future RR that may come to own the bridge, from any liability to pedestrians who use/abuse it.

From back in 2010, post on first page

SST wrote:Why didn't anybody tap into the Obama Stimulas Package? Lots of high paying jobs for steel production, transport and assembly. This would have been better than filling potholes or paying the execs at AIG.

By the time NS and NYS get done, we'll already be in the next cycle of a recession.

Wow, you predicted that right. With the imposing fiscal cliff and consequential 2013/2014 recession, you are spot on ! Did you play your lottery numbers yet ?

I did play the lotto but I didn't win. But I have adjusted my investments to reduce the impact. I'm like most businesses. Not spending until I see what happens.

For updates on the project: https://www.dot.ny.gov/portagevillebridge

NYSDOT announced public hearing on January 10 and releases the Draft EIS for public review. See

https://www.dot.ny.gov/news/press-relea ... 2012-14-12

My wife and I will be attending this session at about 4:30pm today to get information on where this project is at. I hope it doesn't turn into a pissing match where a bunch of folks show up and protest the removal of the old bridge. I mainly want to find out about the project and the time schedule for the work to take place. My wife works for the Park and wants to gather any info that is available. I will report what I find out here in the near future. Let's get this project started!

-Paleoman-

Paleoman wrote:I hope it doesn't turn into a pissing match where a bunch of folks show up and protest the removal of the old bridge.

Just a hunch, but I'd prepare to be disappointed.

You know, its weird - people will fight tooth and nail before letting a piece of history go, but if something new comes about that could be a piece of history 100 years from now they'll fight tooth and nail to keep it from their backyard. (This second part has little to do with this project, just something that occurred to me.)

My wife and I attended the public hearing and found it to be very informative! We arrived at around 4:30pm and I was able to spend a good deal of time talking one on one with the representatives from the NS Railroad and the NYSDOT. I got more from this time than I did at the actual hearing. It appears everything is moving forward and that work may begin as early as this summer. It was revealed that part of the plan involves making the Castile entrance to Letchworth Park larger and capable of handling more traffic as the Portageville entrance will be closed for about 3 years. I got to see how the new road will travel by the new bridge site and how the Parking lot and the Mary Jemison trail will be relocated in the area. I would say I was quite satisfied with what was presented and I am anxious to see this project get under way. One interesting side note, At the end of the presentation, time was allotted for people that had signed up, to speak and make comments. A representative from State Senator Catherine Young from the Olean area read a statement from her that told she was in total support of the project and had introduced a bill for the State to take over ownership of the existing bridge when it was put out of service. She said that it passed the Senate but was not voted on in the assembly, so it probably died there.

-Paleoman52-

Editorial from the Batavia Daily News on the proposed bridge and public meeting:

http://thedailynewsonline.com/opinion/a ... 963f4.html

I think it is interesting to note the timing. NS is looking to have infrastructure in place for when the Panama Canal widening project is complete in 2015, using this route as a gateway to the Buffalo-Niagra region.

Many here have been looking at rail traffic levels and have not understood why NS would want to replace the bridge now. Obviously NS is looking way down the tracks.