Verizon wire removal delays bridge work

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The Chhurch Street bridge pictured in June.

Reconstruction work on the Church Street bridge has been delayed again, and the involved parties are getting frustrated.

Initially slated to start on June 16, the closure was pushed back two weeks on June 14 because Verizon was not able to move its wires and poles out of the way of overarching cranes used by construction companies.

Now, for that very same reason, the project has been pushed into at least the month of July, possibly later.

Washington County project manager Tim Zinn expressed the frustration of the parties involved.

“The (copper) wire is around there, they just have to locate it,” Zinn said. “We’ve been hounding them for a couple months now.”

Zinn said the initial meeting with the utility companies, New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) and Verizon, took place in 2019.

“NYSEG moved their lines early on because they didn’t need to access any right-of-way,” Zinn said. “They (NYSEG) already had existing infrastructure they could go off of.”

“We have not received an updated schedule yet,” Zinn said.

Chris Serico, employee communications and consumer public relations manager, said differently.

“Like all major changes in infrastructure, the Church Street bridge project in Granville requires time, care and precision, especially when multiple companies and agencies are collaborating on the process, and because no two projects are exactly the same.

“For our role in this particular project, Verizon must wait for other teams to complete their work before being tasked with transferring our fiber and equipment from the site of the old bridge to a temporary location — without interrupting service,” Serico said via email.

“This process can last several weeks to execute safely and properly, all while maintaining the high quality of service our customers want, expect and need. Once the new bridge is completed, our communications facilities will return to the original site.”

When asked which companies and agencies Verizon is waiting on, Serico sent an automated email back to NYVT Media saying he would be on vacation past press time and to contact public relations manager Andrew Testa. Testa did not respond by press time.

An attempt to contact Laura Sanda, project manager for McFarland Johnson, the overseers of the project, was unsuccessful.

Clough, Harbour & Associates (CHA) resident engineer Kevin Dubois declined to comment, with CHA being the inspectors of the engineering.

Granville town supervisor Matt Hicks showed signs of disappointment with the announcement, explaining why the closure was postponed further.

“Everything’s ready to go and we’re all waiting on Verizon. They’ve known about it for a year and they were supposed to have it done in February,” Hicks said. “Going across the bridge there’s a big set of wires that needs to be moved so the cranes can get in there and do their job.”

Hicks agreed with Zinn’s sentiment that the lack of knowledge on Verizon’s timetable makes it harder for the involved companies to plan their work.

“I’ve heard it’s going to be some time in July, and that’s next week,” Hicks said. “At least if we know the schedule we can make accommodations.”

Raymond Sprague, project manager for JH Maloy, said although the construction companies are awaiting Verizon to fulfill their role, he has observed Verizon becoming involved by placing a brand new pole on each side of the bridge.

“Right now, we’re waiting for Verizon,” Sprague said. “Between yesterday (June 22) and today (June 23) Verizon put up brand new poles.”

Sprague said JH Maloy is still getting their hands on the approval of their demolition plan, the delivery of reinforcing rebar steel and precast concrete arch casting.

“We don’t want to close the road and have something come back to haunt us,” Sprague said. “The biggest unknown is Verizon because they will not give us a real date.”

Sprague mentioned an interesting result of the COVID-19 pandemic: the difficulty in communication between multiple parties.

“The last year and a half has changed the whole outlook of scheduling stuff,” Sprague said. “My biggest concern is you don’t want to get into colder weather… (but) the asphalt, you can go into November without any temperature problems.”

Granville mayor Paul Labas said he noticed three Verizon trucks on June 23 and four individual trucks on June 24.

“I think that they stepped up their game there a bit,” Labas said.

Labas added that the top line of the wires on Verizon poles serves as “a major trunk line of information” with thousands of connection lines that serve Granville residents.

“They have to literally disconnect every wire, Labas said. “It’s very tedious work.”

The main takeaway is that the replacement project will happen, it’s just a matter of when.