Dawson closes bridge due to deterioration
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A private bridge in Jamestown that had been used by the company as well as the general public has been shut down to all traffic due to its deteriorating state.
The bridge which connects Allen Street to Dawson and Emco is now barricaded.
Chris Parks, the executive assistant at Dawson Metal Company, stated in an email the company was forced to shut it down.
"Dawson had to close it after the last big rain, which caused some of the bridge to wash away. It left a big hole that was deemed unsafe for the heavy weight vehicles to cross," he wrote.
Before barricading it, the bridge had been restricted to vehicles weighing more than 16 tons.
For several years, Dawson has been trying to get a new bridge installed.
There are 19 bridges that cross the Chadakoin River in Chautauqua County. Eighteen of them are maintained by the government. The one on Allen Street is the lone exception.
During an interview with The Post-Journal over the summer, David Dawson, President of Dawson Metal, Dawson Doors, and Spray Tech Finishing, said the bridge was installed before Dawson Metal relocated there in the 1960s, likely by the company that was there before them. Because it was installed by a business, it's always been treated as a private bridge.
Across the bridge is both Dawson Metal and Dawson Doors. But there is also EMCO Finishing Products, Inc. and Anabec Solutions, neither of which are affiliated with Dawson Metal.
The bridge was also used by delivery companies like UPS or FedEx, as well as emergency vehicles and the public in general.
Ever since the bridge was restricted for weight, tractor trailer drivers have had to travel on Crescent Street, which is a curvy road with residential houses, and cross a set of railroad tracks when making deliveries.
Recent cost estimates for the bridge replacement have been $4 million.
County officials have been opposed to replacing the bridge, arguing that because this is a private bridge, it's inappropriate, if not illegal, for taxpayer dollars to be used.
In the spring, Dawson proposed another option by having the county install an access road, which was estimated to cost around $1 million.
County officials rejected that option as well.
Jamestown Acting Fire Chief Ryan Roush said they've been avoiding using the bridge for several years. "Technically we've always been informed, ever since I started really, that we're supposed to come in off of Crescent (Avenue). I don't know what the rating was on it being a private bridge. It's one thing to take an ambulance across it but we'd never take the ladder truck across it," he said in an interview.
Should the bridge someday be repaired, Roush said the fire department would love to use it. "It would be great to have two ways to access that facility. That would be huge," he said.