NY to probe light problems on Champlain bridge
The Associated Press | March 19,2013
WEST ADDISON — The New York State Department of Transportation plans to investigate why some of the lights on the new Lake Champlain Bridge to Vermont aren’t working.
The $76 million bridge opened late in 2011 after its predecessor at the same location was found to be unsafe.
The bridge’s lighting system includes 66 LED floodlights and 276 2-foot-long LED pedestrian lights on the handrails. Many are not working.
New York DOT spokesman Bryan Viggiani said the problem will be investigated this spring when it’s warmer so engineers can get onto the bridge and look at the wiring.
“It’s driver safety, for one, and visibility. Obviously these things are important lights. At some level it goes into the aesthetics of it as well,” Viggiani said
Some people have complained on social media about problems with the new bridge, Vermont Public Radio reported.
The original bridge linking West Addison and Crown Point, N.Y., was demolished in December 2009. During the two years it took to build the new bridge, free ferry service was offered at the site.
The Transportation Department is committed to repairing the lighting problem, Viggiani said.
