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Erie Street Road bridge construction end in sight in Macedon

Richard Kiehle, the Resident Engineer for the Erie Street Road project and Wayne County Highway Superintendent Jim Brady stand on the old bridge slated to come down, with the new bridge in the background. The new exit for Erie Street Road on Route 31 will be across from Route 350 North, right next to the current and future ExpressMart store.

The concrete will be poured over the iron rebar deck this week, with follow-up road work to be completed in the upcoming weeks. If all goes as planned, the new bridge and direction for Erie Street Road in Macedon will be open in July. The bridge, over the Ganargua (Mud) Creek will now have traffic on the road, exiting about 100 yards east of its current end on Route 31 in the Village of Macedon.

The project, according to Wayne County Highway Superintendent Jim Brady, is slightly over budget due to delays in the utility company moving key poles and lines. Brady said the delays will cost the County about $1400 more. The County is contributing 5% of the total $2.8 million dollar cost.

After the bridge is completed, Erie Street Road will be completely shut off near the construction site for about three weeks. This will allow for workers to alter and finish the final approach to the bridge from the south. The old portion of Erie Street Road will be cut off and become a dead-end road from Main Street (Route 31) to a parking lot behind the current Main Street buildings in the Village.

According to Brady, one of the major sticking points to the new Erie Street/Route 31 connection comes with changes required for the ExpressMart convenience store, currently facing north on the south side of Route 31. That building must be razed and rebuilt. The new store and gas pump islands will face west.

ExpressMart Regional Manager, George Tartick, said he was unaware of the road’s timetable and was surprised to learn the new curbing on the turn lane exit onto Route 31, would cut off use of the current pump island. He stated it takes 12 weeks to construct a store after closing and that he would notify the company’s officials immediately of the July/August opening of the new road stretch. ExpressMart does have the new iron girders on site in anticipation of the new building. It was unclear whether the store had the proper permits to begin construction on the new building. “We had them at one time, but they expired,” said Tartick.