Route 7 has been reopened after construction work on a box culvert over Glenwood Creek was completed Friday.
The work, which began on April 10, closed part of state Route 7 in Oneonta’s East End.
State Department of Transportation spokesperson Daniel Scharfenberger said in an email Monday, June 10 that the project was delayed due to scheduling conflicts.
The original projected end date for the completion of the culvert was May 31.
Sharfenberger said the new culvert will channel water under the road, allowing it to flow more easily and lessening instances of flooding along the nearby roads.
For nearly two months, the construction work closed Route 7 between Rose Avenue and Park Street. The section of the street was blocked to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Detours directed traffic through a residential area around the closure.
The total project cost was $1.2 million, including construction, design, construction inspection and right-of-way.
The state awarded funds to the city for the replacement of the culvert from the Bridge NY program, which the city applied for in 2018, according to Daily Star archives.
The grant amount provided through Bridge NY was $690,500 and the city contributed the remainder through the general fund.
The total contract for Upstate Companies was $807,703.
The project has been in the works since December 2020. It was planned to begin in 2022 when it was first presented to Oneonta’s Common Council.
The culvert’s decay included loose stones and concrete, missing stones and other structural issues with the culvert, which was undersized to begin with, project managers told the council in 2020, according to Daily Star archives.
Because of the problems, the area was prone to flooding. A well-designed, structurally sound culvert should not flood unless there is a 100-year storm, however the Glenwood Creek culvert was so damaged it could have produce flooding even in a 5-year type of storm.
The new culvert will improve the water flow, address flooding issues and, according to the grant program, must be a structure that lasts at least 50 years.