DOT eyes removal of bridge over Northway in Saratoga

The days of the Nelson Avenue Extension bridge over the Northway could be numbered.

But residents are hoping to stop the state Department of Transportation from closing and then removing the bridge, one of many aging bridges over the Northway.

“We don’t want to lose that bridge,” said Marie Balet, who lives on Nelson Avenue Extension in Malta.

But the state says the bridge is used only by about 440 vehicles per day, and is aging to the point where it will soon need a replacement, which would cost $5.5 million. It was built in the early 1960s.

With other the bridges taking local roads over the Northway approaching the end of their life spans, DOT is considering replacing the Crescent Avenue bridge less than a mile north, and phasing out the Nelson Avenue spans — actually two bridges, one over each half of the Northway.

“We’re hearing from people and we’re going to meet with local elected officials. No decision has been made,” said DOT spokesman Bryan Viggiani.

Residents like Balet and her daughter, Suzanne Haight, say the state’s April traffic count underestimates the amount of use the bridge receives in the summer months, and the number of bicyclists who use it to make a loop through the countryside.

Link to Saratoga Lake

The two-lane bridge is located in Saratoga Springs, but Nelson Avenue Extension is a link between the city and a rural part of Malta leading to Saratoga Lake, where many people have built expensive homes.

The bridge over the Northway is the first of two bridges in near proximity, the second crossing the Kayaderosseras Creek, which is the boundary between Saratoga Springs and Malta.

Saratoga Springs Mayor Joanne Yepsen said she’d be willing to facilitate a meeting with DOT regional director Sam Zhou, but Zhou faces budget constraints, and a strong case will need to be made for the bridge’s continuation. “There’s definitely some work to do,” she said.

“I think the bike traffic is absolutely something we need to consider,” Yepsen said Thursday.

City Public Works Commissioner Anthony “Skip” Scirocco said he plans to bring a resolution supporting keeping the bridge to the Aug. 2 City Council meeting. “I think a resolution is a good idea,” he said. “I’m going to do what I can do to make sure it stays there.”

State officials have told residents that the Crescent Avenue bridge and Kayaderosseras Avenue East would be an alternative route if the bridge were removed, but Balet called Kayaderosseras Avenue “narrow and dangerous.”

“It’s curvy and has limited sight,” she said.

Balet said her research shows there’s been a road there since 1866. “Once a highway has been maintained and used, you’re not supposed to abandon that road,” she asserted.

There’s an online petition at change.org, and a physical petition at Suzanne Balet Haight’s greenhouse and shop on Nelson Avenue Extension.

“It’s really kind of a save-the-bridge campaign,” Marie Balet said. “We’re pretty serious about this, because really it’s impacting a lot of people.”

The city owns land on the east side of the bridge, noted city Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen.

“This is a commitment the state made years and years ago when they put that overpass out there . . . To take it away I think would be very unfair,” Mathiesen said.

Malta officials are also planning to weigh in.

“This is going to disproportionately impact the people and businesses in that part of town,” said Malta Councilman John Hartzell, who formerly lived in that part of Malta. “For them, it’s huge.”

According to Viggiani, DOT will hold a public meeting on options for that bridge and others in the area this fall.

“We’ll see what the public has to say, and go from there,” Viggiani said.

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