Route 9P bridge to be named ‘Veterans Memorial’

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

The Route 9P bridge across Fish Creek will be officially named the “Saratoga County Veterans Memorial Bridge” in a ceremony on Oct. 19.

The dedication is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the bridge, assuming the state Department of Transportation has manufactured and installed the necessary identification signs by then.

“We are told they will be up by mid-October,” said county Veterans Committee Chairwoman Mary Ann Johnson, R-Day. “They will be covered over until the ceremony.”

There will be two signs, one on the Saratoga Springs side of the bridge, and the other on the town of Saratoga side, said county Board of Supervisors’ Chairman Thomas N. Wood III, R-Saratoga.

The dedication will be the culmination of one of the initiatives Wood announced in January, when he was re-elected board chairman.

Wood sought the dedication for the bridge, a new bridge that replaced an aging span in 2011.

Wood has said the naming of the bridge is another way to remind travelers of what veterans have done. It is also on the main route between Saratoga Springs and the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, where thousands of New York veterans are buried.

The naming of the bridge required approval by the state Legislature, which acted during this past spring’s session. Gov. Andrew Cuomo then signed the legislation.

State action was required because the bridge is on a state highway. The bridge crosses Fish Creek at the head of Saratoga Lake, linking the city of Saratoga Springs with the town of Saratoga.

Assemblyman James Tedisco, R-Glenville, who sponsored the bill in the Assembly, characterized the naming when the bill passed as a “small gesture” that was important as a reminder of the sacrifice veterans have made.

State Sen. Roy McDonald, R-Saratoga, who was defeated by Kathy Marchione in a September Republican primary, was the Senate sponsor. McDonald is a Vietnam combat veteran.

The bridge is used by about 10,000 vehicles per day.