The Woodstock Town Board approved easements and the sale of town property to allow the county to replace a bridge on Zena Road with a wider span.
The new bridge needs to be hardened against extreme weather events and new standards require a wider bridge and different approach angle. The town owns property on one side of the bridge, which is located just south of the intersection with Gitnick Road, near the Zena Cornfield.
County officials had expected to begin work in 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic put a hold on those plans.
The bridge is rated 4.2 out of 7, the low score being due to deterioration of the substructure, said Project Engineer Barry Anctil for the firm Aecom during a 2019 public information session with Woodstock officials and residents.
Built in 1931, the bridge abutments sit on soil and are subject to scour from the Sawkill Creek. The bridge underwent a major rehabilitation in 1995 when the deck was replaced with corrugated steel and asphalt pavement.
At the 2019 session, Anctil said the deck is cracked and leaking through to the substructure.
“The bridge itself needs to be made a little wider. I think they were going to change the angle of the approach a little bit, so this is going to require them coming over on to the town property a little bit,” Supervisor Bill McKenna said at the November 23 Town Board meeting.
“I also believe that there’s another property owner there who’s also in the process of doing the same thing, giving both a small sliver of property and an easement.”
The property sale is subject to permissive referendum, which means any resident can petition the town within 30 days to hold a town-wide vote on the matter. If no petitions are received, the sale is completed.
Join the family! 
