Posted at: 11/01/2009 10:29 AM
By: Dan Bazile

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Protesters gather at Batchellerville Bridge

EDINBURG -- Protesters -- residents and firefighters -- concerned about their safety gathered Saturday at both ends of the Batchellerville Bridge over the Great Sacandaga Lake.

"I'm very concerned about the school buses going across," said resident John Chesney.

The New York State Department of Transportation converted the bridge to alternating one lane of traffic after inspecting it back in August. The agency says the footings under teh 77-year old bridge are shot.

Aside from the delays and concerns over the bridge's stability, residents now fear their safety may be in jeopardy at their own houses because the Edinburg Fire Pumper is too heavy to drive across with a full tank of water.

"We have to empty the tanker at the fire house, bring it across and find the nearest water source to fill it back up with," Chief Wayne Seelow of Edinburg F.D. said.

During a recent drill, that took about 44 minutes to do -- enough time, the chief says, for a house to completely burn down.

If the bridge were to shut down, it would be even worse. Firefighters say it would take 45-minutes to an hour detour to get to the other side in case of an emergency.

The closest fire company that could lend a hand is about 30-minutes away. Paramedics are also worried about their response time.

"It's going to delay everything," said Angela Reynolds, Pres. Edinburg Emergency Squad. "It's going to hurt the people on the south side of the bridge."

Reconstruction on the Batchellerville Bridge has been talked about for years.

"It keeps getting pushed aside and pushed aside," said Jack McGuire. "I guess because we are in a rural area and they think we're not important here."

The Bridge of Life Committee, which organized Saturday morning's rally, is pusing hard to move the bridge up on the priority list.

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