The side streets of Lakeland provide a good walk for Michael Broski but he would rather be walking the shady trails of Onondaga Lake's west side. The only thing stopping him is the closed pedestrian footbridge over Route 690.

"Frankly it's one of the reasons we had moved into this area was so we could access the footbridge," says Broski.

The bridge has been closed since a frightening accident two years ago when a truck's hydraulic lift hit the bridge and knocked a large chunk of concrete on top of a minivan carrying a family of seven to the State Fair. Everyone survived the accident but the bridge has remained out of commission. Today the State D.O.T. said the bridge will be replaced this fall and work will start as soon as the State Fair ends

 "It's been determined - let's not do it until after Labor Day. We still have six, seven, eight weeks to get it done and we should get it done by then," said Gene Cilento from the New York State D.O.T.

The design work has been completed and the D.O.T. was just waiting for the necessary funding.

Michael Broski is glad the bridge will finally be re-connected so he and his Lakeland neighbors will be able to walk around the lake.

"It's been a long wait and we were really concerned it wouldn't happen," said Broski.  "I'd been hearing it would happen this fall but frankly I didn't believe it with all the state budget problems."

In order to rebuild the bridge Rt. 690 eastbound will have lane closures for several weeks but the state D.O.T. says they will not need to close it completely