The Town of Irondequoit will present two options for a year-round bridge across the Irondequoit Bay Outlet at a meeting tomorrow evening.
The Democrat and Chronicle says it’s gotten an advance look at the report, and it says the best choices are a new lift bridge that would raise to let boats through…or a retrofit of the existing seasonal swing bridge so that it could swing aside for boats, then close again for highway traffic across the bay.
The lift bridge would cost about $33 million, and turning the seasonal bridge into a year-round bridge would cost half as much.
There already seems to be a split between Irondequoit and Webster town officials over the best plan to recommend.
Webster Supervisor Ronald Nesbit favors an idea that scored low with the consultants: building ramps to connect Route 104 with Seabreeze Drive so traffic can go over the existing bay bridge. That would also cost in the $30 million range, but would require taking at least ten homes. The lift bridge would require taking just five.
Nesbit says he won’t support the two leading options. Irondequoit Supervisor Dave Seeley said by Twitter that his counterpart’s position is “baffling” and still won’t provide year-round access to businesses on either side of the bay outlet.
The seasonal bridge was built 20 years ago when officials couldn’t get support for a costlier option. It closes to allow car traffic in the winter, and swings out of the way cutting off the road in the spring to allow boat traffic into the bay.
The study will be discussed tomorrow evening at 7:00 at Irondequoit Town Hall.