Dryden receives funds to replace Genung Road bridge

The Town of Dryden recently received $1.381 million that was awarded through Gov. Kathy Hochul’s $216 million New York State BridgeNY initiative. The funds awarded to Dryden will aid in replacing the Genung Road Bridge over Cascadilla Creek. This makes Dryden one of 88 municipalities to receive BridgeNY funds, which covers a total of 109 projects across the state.

The initiative, according to the state, aims to “support projects that reduce the risk of flooding, improve resiliency of structures, facilitate regional economic competitiveness and prioritize projects that benefit environmental justice communities.”

“The BridgeNY program provides essential funding to enhance the safety, resiliency and reliability of critical municipally owned infrastructure,” Hochul said. “We must continue to make these strategic investments in our local communities to protect our residents from the increased frequency of extreme weather events, as well as to provide New Yorkers with the modernized and streamlined infrastructure they deserve.”

The impending project for Dryden is one of two within Tompkins County. The county was awarded $3.675 million for the replacement of the County Route 146 bridge over Taughannock Creek. The two future county projects are within the Southern Tier region, which as a whole received $28 million for a dozen separate projects.

Rick Young, the town’s highway superintendent, was notified by Jeff Smith, the county’s highway director, that grant funding was available for bridges.

“The funds are much needed,” Young said.

When Young looked at bridges that “most likely needed replacing,” the Genung Road Bridge was the top one.

“It was more likely to be going soon than other bridges in the area,” Young added. “The county repaired the [Genung Road] bridge [more than five] years ago, but the time has come to replace it.”

Young noted the town is usually responsible for covering 20% of the funds needed to repair and/or replace a bridge in the area, and the county covers the rest. However, since Dryden received state funding, the county will cover the rest of the remaining balance for the replacement of the Genung Road Bridge.

“It saves money for the town’s taxpayers, which in return helps save money for the county,” Young noted when a municipality receives state-grant funding.

Despite having over $1.3 million set aside for replacement of the bridge, Young isn’t sure what will be the exact cost of replacing it.

“Based on construction costs and supplies these days, we won’t know until we get into it,” he said.

Young said that, before the town can solidify a start date for construction, it has to search for a third-party company to assist in the project.

“We’ll try to move the process along fairly quickly,” he said. “But you have to find a company that has time and isn’t scheduled to [work on] other bridges.”

Progress being made on proposed Game Farm Road crossing

Town of Dryden officials recently provided an update on the progress of a proposed pedestrian crosswalk on Game Farm Road between the Dryden Rail Trail and the East Ithaca Recreation Way.

The towns of Dryden and Ithaca recently formed a partnership with Barton & Loguidice of Liverpool, a firm that specializes in engineering and architecture, on conducting a study for a potential crosswalk and proper signage for Game Farm Road.

“We’ve worked with them on different projects,” said Young at the Dec. 16 Dryden Town Board meeting.

Dryden Deputy Supervisor Dan Lamb said the study will cost about $15,000, with payment split in the middle with the town of Ithaca. Lamb added that results of the study could be available somewhere between late January and early February of this year.

“This will hopefully lead us to presenting the proposals to pedestrians looking forward to using the Rail Trail,” Lamb added.

The section of the Rail Trail between Game Farm and Stevenson Road opened near the end of the fall season last year. Despite a variety of approvals from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and easements from property owners, a potential opening of the Rail Trail that points toward the Recreation Way is closed off until Dryden can receive further approvals from Tompkins County and the state’s Department of Transportation.

“The county has high standards for approving a crossing plan,” Lamb said. “It’s a complicated stop to have a crossing, so we want this done right.”

Young noted the possibility of a parking area for the Rail Trail adjacent to Stevenson Road so “people aren’t jumping out of their cars and into traffic [on Game Farm Road].”

This may lead to limited parking on Game Farm Road, Young said, which includes dialing back on the parking currently available for East Ithaca Recreation Way.

“We may provide parking at Game Farm Road for people with accessibility issues, but we’ll keep it limited,” Lamb said.

Former County Legislator Martha Robertson, who served the town of Dryden, expressed her concerns about the town’s potential parking plan at the Dec. 16 meeting.

“If the people from the town of Ithaca have to park at Stevenson [Road], then we’re telling them they have to walk all the way on [Stevenson and Game Farm Road] to get to the rest of the trail,” Robertson noted as the crosswalk plan is being worked out.

Robertson added that an intermunicipal group between the towns of Dryden and Ithaca should “look at parking in the long term and increase a safer space.”

“People are going to want to go in and out, not around two streets,” she said.

Lamb said if the survey and traffic count for the crossing “goes smoothly” and the proposal is approved in February, the multiple towns involved in the proposal can “start doing [parking] litigation right away.”

“Everyone is on the same page, and it seems to be moving forward,” Young said.

Dryden Dispatch appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com.