After several years of detours, motorists will have soon have full use of Old Ravena Road.
Albany County is completing the final work on a bridge replacement project on that road, which runs parallel to Route 9W in Selkirk and northern Coeymans. The bridge in question, which spans CSX railway tracks, was built back in the 1920s and was closed for replacement in 2007, according to Bill Anslow of the county’s Department of Public Works.
We’re ready to pour the concrete on the deck, he said. `We should be open sometime mid- to the end of August.`
The road actually crosses the tracks in two places. The southern span has already been replaced, and was first closed in 2004.
The closures have forced some residents of the area to drive further north or south on Route 9W then double back along Old Ravena Road. That includes residents of a trailer park that’s located just south of the closed bridge.
The total cost of the replacement project is about $7.3 million, all but 5 percent of which is being funded through federal or state money.
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