The debacle at Crown Point bridge

Locals are still reeling from NYS DOT’s decision to shut down the Crown Point bridge. Lives up and down the Champlain Valley have been utterly disrupted.

I’ve interviewed state officials about the bridge since 2007. Again and again, they’ve assured me and the public that the bridge is safe and will provide essentially uninterrupted service.

Those promises proved to be troublingly incorrect.

Despite years of repeated inspections, core samples, and a small army of consultants, the DOT apparently missed a structural flaw so glaring that there is a significant risk of structural “failure” even without automobile traffic.

Thousands of locals have been driving their families over the bridge every day, confident that they and their children were safe.

Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward has asked for a complete explanation for how these problems were missed.

I think the situation at Crown Point bridge warrants more scrutiny.

The Assembly or some other independent body should convene a hearing to review how the situation there was handled — or mishandled.

Here are the key questions in my reporter’s notebook:

1. How were safety concerns missed for so long, despite such intense scrutiny of the structure?

2. If the bridge was continuing to degrade rapidly, why wasn’t it stabilized sooner?

3. Were concerns raised earlier about the integrity and safety of the bridge within DOT?

4. Is it appropriate that DOT’s schedule for replacing or repairing the bridge calls for four years of preliminary work?

State Senator Betty Little has suggested that a “major tragedy” was averted on Friday. It’s still unclear whether the bridge — an important historic landmark — can be salvaged.

The public deserves a thorough and independent explanation of how we reached this point.