Bridge to open to two lanes this weekend

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By Dan King

State Department of Transportation will be opening the Poultney Street Bridge back to two lanes of traffic – but not for too long.

“It will be open to two lanes by the holiday weekend,” said Bryan Viggiani, a DOT spokesman. “Then it will go back to a single lane on Monday.”

He said that the workers at that point will finish putting up the containment barrier that they have begun constructing, and then they will strip the bridge of its old paint and coat it with a fresh new coat.

“We put up the containment barrier to keep the paint out of the water,” Viggiani said.

Initially, Whitehall Mayor Ken Bartholomew was concerned that DOT was ignoring the Poultney Street Bridge and that it was going to be closed to one lane for the holiday weekend, but he received confirmation on Tuesday that the bridge will be fully functional for the holiday. Bartholomew said he was concerned that if the bridge was left on a single lane basis it would be a “liability.”

“If it wasn’t opened up to two lanes, traffic would be backed up past Fort Ann, I kid you not,” Bartholomew said.
Viggiani also addressed why workers haven’t been seen on the bridge lately.

“They got called away from the bridge, because they have multiple contracts,” said Viggiani, referring to the contractors that are being used to paint the bridge.

Viggiani said the contractors were called to a project they are working on in Albany, and are expected to be back at the Poultney Street Bridge by Monday.

Once the workers finish the new paint job, they will do some finishing touches to the underside of the bridge, and then the two-summer construction process will be concluded.

“It should be done by sometime in October,” Viggiani said.

The contract date for the bridge is set for November, but Viggiani feels that October is a more accurate estimation.