Albion, NY -- Work is set to begin Wednesday to replace the Pineville bridge on County Route 48 in the Oswego County town of Albion. But the work couldn’t come at a worse time, said Rick Boeve, owner of Pineville Sports. The project begins just as the salmon and steelhead fishing season is picking up. Shutting down the bridge could...
Albion, NY -- Work is set to begin Wednesday to replace the Pineville bridge on County Route 48 in the Oswego County town of Albion.
But the work couldn’t come at a worse time, said Rick Boeve, owner of Pineville Sports.
The project begins just as the salmon and steelhead fishing season is picking up. Shutting down the bridge could wreak havoc on business, Boeve and other business owners said. Fishermen looking to cross the river at Pineville instead will have to drive east to Altmar or west to Pulaski and cross the river at those locations.
It’s about 8 to 10 miles each way.
“It’s going to be real interesting,” Boeve said. “Yeah, it’s going to affect business, but who knows how much.”
A 2007 statewide angler survey estimated more than 2.6 million angler days were expended on Lake Ontario and major tributaries, such as the Salmon River. The estimated value of these fisheries exceeded $112 million to local New York economies. A study done by Cornell University researchers called “Lake Ontario Sportfishing: Trends, Analysis and Outlook” shows fishing brought $16.5 million in 2007 to Oswego County.
The Oswego County highway department is tearing down the bridge, located in the northeast part of the county. Barrett Paving is the contractor for building a replacement bridge. Work is supposed to last for about a year.
County Legislature Chair Barry Leemann, R-Amboy, said the bridge has to come down now because the state Department of Environmental Conservation won’t let bridge workers into the Salmon River after Oct. 1. That’s when the fish coming into the river.
Because of the project’s duration, it would impact either this fishing season or next year’s.
“We don’t want to do anything to disrupt fishing and tourism,” Leemann said. “But liability wise, that bridge is no good. It’s safe now, but it’s not going to be for long. And one way or another, it’s going to interfere with a fishing season.”
The bridge is 228 feet long and was built in 1940.
“We were originally told last year they were going to start this in the spring and be done around September,” Boeve said.
Brenda Littlejohn, owner of Brenda’s Motel on County Route 48 on the north side of the river, said she’s going to lose thousands of dollars with the bridge being out.
“People are not going to come down the road, see the bridge is out and go all the way around to get here,” she said.
Littlejohn has contacted various lawmakers and local media in an effort to delay the bridge replacement work. When told the project is supposed to last a year, she said “why can’t they find someone who will start it in the spring and finish it before Oct. 1 of next year?”