Chamber wants in on the bridge decision
By Donna Comella

The Greater Newark Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors was one of the first to get word of the new offer when Mayor Pirelli joined them Tuesday at the luncheon meeting.

For years prior to the Pirelli administration, the Chamber's Industry and New Business Committee had been active in addressing the progressing bridge problems in the village. The committee had successfully negotiated several bridge plans, including the one that kept Route 88 open during the rebuilding of the N. Main St. bridge over the rail tracks.

Pirelli said that although the village couldn't see its way clear to accept a 1995 offer of three bridges, he didn't think one bridge would be a financial burden.

Chamber Director John Van Dusen had several questions, however, about how the village would pay the millions it would cost to eventually replace the span. He also questioned whether or not the village employs someone with the expertise to maintain such a structure.

"I think it can be done because it has to be done," said Pirelli. "We must look at the years 2010 and 2015 now. This is a long-range plan that we have to do and I think it's essential that the village have this bridge."

Van Dusen suggested that rather than taking on the East Ave. "White Elephant," the village use its resources to complete the Industrial Park Rd. to the Stebbins bridge. That, said Van Dusen, would divert westward industrial traffic away from the village and allow vehicles to cross the canal outside the village.

Pirelli promised that there are indeed plans to extend West Shore Boulevard from Route 88 through the Industrial Park and onto Stebbins, but stuck to his guns on the East Ave. bridge.

"The (NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation) will stop you from ever changing that dinosaur," warned Van Dusen. "The village will not collapse, or even be seriously handicapped, without the East Ave. bridge."

Pirelli assured, "To take the bridge is a manageable situation, but we must be diligent to sufficiently budget for future replacement."

Van Dusen questioned the budgetary impact and told Pirelli that dollar figures "need to be part of the public discussion."

At the end of the meeting, with Pirelli already gone, the Chamber Board decided to draft a letter to "invite themselves into the decision-making process." Director Diana Lagenor suggested that the letter also be published in local newspapers to make citizens aware of the Chamber's concerns.

top of page
return to index

Copyright © 1997
Courier-Gazette, 613 S. Main St. Newark, N.Y. 14513
All Rights Reserved