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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Those promises proved to be troublingly incorrect. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Thousands of locals have been driving their families over the bridge every day, confident that they and their children were safe.<\/p>\n
Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward has asked for a complete explanation for how these problems were missed.<\/p>\n
I think the situation at Crown Point bridge warrants more scrutiny.<\/p>\n
The Assembly or some other independent body should convene a hearing to review how the situation there was handled — or mishandled.<\/p>\n
Here are the key questions in my reporter’s notebook:<\/p>\n
1. How were safety concerns missed for so long, despite such intense scrutiny of the structure?<\/p>\n
2. If the bridge was continuing to degrade rapidly, why wasn’t it stabilized sooner?<\/p>\n
3. Were concerns raised earlier about the integrity and safety of the bridge within DOT? <\/p>\n
4. Is it appropriate that DOT’s schedule for replacing or repairing the bridge calls for four years of preliminary work? <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The public deserves a thorough and independent explanation of how we reached this point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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