EDINBURG - The effects of a washed-out road in Hadley are being felt 15 miles away, where Edinburg's fire department and ambulance service had to expand its coverage area and some drivers are being forced into 50-mile detours.
A section of North Shore Road in Hadley, which runs along the Great Sacandaga Lake, fell into the lake Friday night. The road will be closed for weeks just south of the Conklingville dam - one of two crossings for motorists on the east side of the lake.
The other crossing, the aging Batchellerville Bridge in Edinburg, has alternating one-way traffic with trucks confined to a 15-ton weight limit while a new bridge is being built beside it.
Article Photos
Work on the Batchellerville Bridge is shown Saturday.
The Leader-Herald/Bill Trojan
Lumber trucks, snowplows and garbage truck drivers have had to find other routes, according to town Supervisor Jean Raymond. One detour takes drivers around the lake, through Northville, Mayfield and Broadalbin, before getting back into Edinburg - a 50-mile detour by the time drivers reach the other side of the Conklingville dam.
Signs in Edinburg's town center, where drivers can elect to cross the bridge, note the detour 15 miles north and weight restrictions at the bridge less than a mile east.
Deborah Reynolds of Reynolds Trucking in Edinburg, whose trucks go to Ticonderoga and Glens Falls, said drivers have either been driving around the lake or taking a northern detour, picking up eastbound Route 8 in Wells. She said it's inconvenient, yet necessary, for the sake of safety.
She said with diesel fuel prices over $4 per gallon, the longer route is "taking a bite" out of their budget, but she doesn't expect it to affect their prices in the short-term.
Edinburg Volunteer Fire Department Chief Wayne Seelow said fire and ambulance protection has expanded into the town of Day, covering Hadley Hill Road to the location where the washout occurred until the road is repaired. He has not been given a timeline for repairs.
Carol Breen, a state Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said officials aren't concerned about other road washouts, even though many of the lakeside roads through Edinburg, Day and Hadley are similarly designed.
She said crews have been working on both ends of the new bridge, driving pile into bedrock and pouring concrete into piers. Activity will increase in April as more workers are brought in. She said the bridge is still on target to open in late summer or early fall of 2013.
Raymond said she's pleased with the progress on the bridge. She said all the workers have been "a pleasure to work with, pleasant, helpful and nice to deal with."
Raymond said she's been told the workers feel the same way about the reception they've received from the town, and it's been a great arrangement for both sides.
Barbara Cook can be reached at ruralnews@leaderherald.com.