OBPA Hires Contractor To Tear Down House

The Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority soon will be taking down a Ford Street home in order to make way for a secondary access road to the port.

Frank Richardson & Sons, Ogdensburg, will demolish the property after completing the asbestos removal, which is underway. The house is across the street from 1900 Ford St., which the authority purchased and cleared last year.

Demolishing the home, which was purchased in September for $44,000, will make way for the authority to build a road from the port to Barre Street.

According OBPA executive Director Wade A. Davis, the road would ease traffic for Paterson Street, which is the port's main access for heavy cargo such as wind turbines. It will also allow the oversized traffic to flow while the city and state Department of Transportation replace the main access road during 2011-12.

"It's a very important project," Mr. Davis said. "It is especially critical given Paterson Street rebuild."

According to City Manager Arthur J. Sciorra, the $7.5 million overhaul of the port's primary access road is on schedule to start in the 2011 construction season. He said Barton & Loguidice, Syracuse, which the city hired in October to design and manage the Paterson project, are surveying the road.

Although city officials said the road will not be closed during construction, the OBPA still hopes to have secondary access to the port before construction of Paterson begins.

The secondary access project is in the preliminary design phase as the OBPA continues to look for construction and engineering funds.

"We still have not identified funding for the access road, but we're optimistic and ever vigil," Mr. Davis said.

The authority is waiting to hear about a $1.3 million grant application to the state DOT, and Mr. Davis said there are plans to submit an application to the Upstate Regional Blue Print fund.