Route 34B bridge reopens after two years

On Thursday, Lansing residents eagerly gathered at the south end of the Route 34B bridge over Salmon Creek to celebrate a moment two years in the making — the reopening of the bridge after major construction throughout the pandemic. At the ribbon cutting, held July 21, local and state leaders spoke to the importance of the project and what the new bridge will bring to Lansing.

According to a recent press release from the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), the project cost roughly $18.4 million and replaced the original structure, which was built in 1930, with “a modern, steel-framed bridge that enhances safety and improves mobility along a key connector for the flow of people and commerce in the region.”

NYSDOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez explained at the ribbon cutting the numerous ways the design of the new bridge is different but still in line with the unique character of the previous bridge.

“It’s got slanted steel supports that hold the bridge in place, which is a little bit different than the traditional vertical piers that you usually see on most bridges,” she said. “This was intentional, and it’s to resolve a problem so that this new bridge will still bear some of the same resemblance features of the previous structure, which I know everybody loved.”

As Dominguez explained, the previous bridge featured an arch-shaped support, and while NYSDOT originally aimed to replace the bridge using the exact same design, officials decided on the slanted steel method “in order to make the design cost effective and really utilize taxpayer dollars well.”

“That way, the new structure is aesthetically unique, much like its predecessor, and it’s a really good use of our resources, and it gets the job done,” she said.

The new bridge makes Lansing now home to the longest structure in New York state that utilizes the slanted steel style, Dominguez said, being 20 feet longer and 10 feet taller than the closest competitor. The design also features 8-foot-wide shoulders, double the size of the previous shoulders, to make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists to cross.

Dominguez said that the project is indicative of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s dedication to investing in the state’s infrastructure.

“Not only is it connecting communities, connecting people, but it really enhances that quality of life that we all get used to,” she said. “We know when we’re missing something that our quality of life is impacted. But it really is that vital connection to life, to the economy and really, sustainability and growth at large.”

Local leaders also talked about the importance of the project to the town, like County Legislator and Lansing resident Mike Sigler.

“People say, this country, ‘Oh, we don’t do big things anymore,’” he said at the event. “Oh yeah, we do. This is a big thing. This is a big project for this town, little Lansing.”

Lansing Town Supervisor Ed LaVigne shared that sentiment.

“It was necessary; that was the first thing,” he told Tompkins Weekly. “There were tremendous concerns in the past with its safety, and it’s not only safety to the people going across it, but also the access. I’m so glad that there that there was minimal, if any, concerns with ambulances, also with fire protection, which we have a fantastic group of volunteers for that. … I wish every road in Lansing was this wide and this modern because we have 18th-century roads in many places [where], unfortunately, we have 21st-century needs.”

LaVigne added that, while he’s gotten plenty of calls about the project over the past two years, people really started to reach out in the weeks leading up to its completion, showing just how eager the whole town was for the bridge to reopen.

“When something is far away, you resolve yourself to the fact that it’s going to take a while, and then when, all [of a] sudden, you’re almost upon it, you almost feel it bubbling up from people underneath,” he said. “They’re almost at a point that they that that they’ve lost all patience whatsoever. And so, you try to calm [them] down and say, ‘Look, you waited over two years; it’s only another day, please.’ And I know there are certain people that do that. And on the Facebook post, I let them vent. … If they have a concern, just get it off your chest because the worst thing a human being can feel is being abandoned.”

Attendees of the ribbon cutting also acknowledged how much work went into the bridge’s construction, particularly with all the complications caused by the pandemic.

“When [the workers] cross this bridge, they can say, ‘You know what, I did that,’” Sigler said. “They were out here in the rain and the snow and the heat. When we were inside maybe watching a movie, trying to stay out of the cold, there were folks out here working on this bridge.”

Dave Smith, director of region 3 of NYSDOT, expressed his gratitude at the event.

“It’s not very often that we replace a bridge of this magnitude,” he said. “This is a significant structure, number one. And secondly, it’s not every day that we do it in a community that’s so excited to have us here, and not only that, but [to] have us get out of here as well. So, we’re excited about that.”

The new bridge has an estimated lifespan of 75 years, according to NYSDOT, and fittingly, LaVigne said the project is “symbolic of where we’re going.” He described other ways the state is helping to support growth in his town.

“We have a new grant as we try to redo our Myers Park, which is over 50 years old,” he said at the event. “Also, New York state has been kind enough to give us a year to do a feasibility study for the residential center for $1-plus, and that feasibility study will see what the ‘plus’ actually is with the, for instance, gymnasium out there and the pool and the storage, and is that where the new offices go for the rec department as opposed to trying to put another $2, $3 million on the backs of the taxpayers amongst other things.”

To read more about the project and its progress over the past two years, visit our previous coverage at tinyurl.com/29jpatgz. Learn more about NYSDOT at dot.ny.gov.

Lansing at Large appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com.