Barrels to stay up all winter on 81 at Oneida Lake
'It was an optimistic schedule,' the NY Dept. of Transportation spokesman says of plans to have the season's road construction projects done by November 30th. Gene Cilento, who speaks for Region Three (Central NY) says the work 'really should be winding down,' but there might be workers out ---and detours and highway slowdowns--when the weather's nice.
Cilento says the late state budget meant funding issues, so some projects this year got started as late as August.
In the Syracuse area, they were working today on 81 southbound into the city, with backups as a result. Some of the 690 projects heading out towards the Fairgrounds are also not done---today they were working on the 690 ramp at North Geddes St.
The biggest unfinished project is on 81 northbound at the Oneida Lake bridge. It was supposed to be done by Nov. 30 (today) but now the DOT says June, which means the orange construction barrels will be up all winter, as they were last year.
Cilento says the bridge has a unique design, and fixing the beams is more involved and time consuming than expected. (click on the video to see a unique look from under the bridge!)
Even though the passing lane is shut down, construction workers will probably not be on the bridge til spring.
