Skip to main content

I-88 should reopen by mid-September and other news

NYSDOT officials expect a mid-September completion on the emergency replacement of a culvert that washed out during the floods in late-June. Two truck drivers, David Swingle of Waverly, NY and Patrick L. O'Connell of Lisbon, ME, were killed when the culvert and I-88 collapsed beneath them. Repair crews began work on July 2nd and teams in two shifts have worked 24/7 on the emergency project. The scheduled re-opening of I-88 is tentative based on future weather conditions. [WSTM]

Ironically this past June, a contract for reinforcement and repairs to the soon to be washed out culvert was let. The award was granted only a few weeks befort the flood and collapse of the culvert. The repair project would have begun this summer. [WBNG-TV]

Also, a slight increase in wrecks, about one extra every other day, has occurred in the area (on NY 7 & 8) as a result of the I-88 detour route. Most are minor fender benders. [Oneonta Daily Star]

Comments

Anonymous said…
I was out that way the day after we did our VT run. There appears also to be some damage in spots extending to the WB rest area east of junction 11. The freeway is narrowed down to 2 lanes from that point west to j10-alternating carriageways. I went along the NY 7 detour, which worked well enough on a quiet Sunday morning; and turned with NY 8 so i could catch a bit of that road. My Ex lives in Hancock(ewww), so I took NY 8 to the end and went on over for a free breakfast.
Anonymous said…
So nice to see that they knew the culvert was bad and yet Jennifer Post of NYDOT and Governor George Pataki are saying was an act of god. Act of god my ass they knew it was bad so why didn't they fix it sooner. Then maybe my brother in law Patrick O'Connell and David Swingle would still be alive.

Becky
Anonymous said…
There were a few articles in today's Albany Times Union regarding this issue. Shortened the corresponding URLs for ease of use...

http://tinyurl.com/m7v9e
http://tinyurl.com/mddr8
http://tinyurl.com/nd825
Anonymous said…
Thank you Doug, Kate Gurnett had contacted us for an interview and I was on the look out for these articles. They were written well, but still I have some heartburn with what is being said about "act of god". Maybe Ms Post and Governor Pataki need to sit at home states away for 11 days wondering what has happened to their only sibling is he alive or dead? Will they ever find a body? Then and only then can the say to me it was an act of god.
Anonymous said…
Act of god they say well i say it was an act of god too put two people like Patrick O'Connell and my dear uncle david the two of them where out doing there jobs as they do every day my uncle was so dedicated to hes work that even if there was the chance of him not going he would of went, there are many times that a trucker would get sick and call in well my uncle didnt unless he was dead on his feat. so the only thing that god has to do with anything is that he is now taking care of mine and beckys family that we have lost!

anthony

Popular posts from this blog

Ghost Town Tuesday; Mannfield, FL and the stairway to Hell

Back in 2015 I went searching the Lecanto Sand Hills for the original Citrus County Seat known as Mannfield.  Unlike Centrailia in Hernando County and Fivay in Pasco County I did find something worth seeing. Mannfield is located in the Lecanto Sand Hill section of Withlacoochee State Forest somewhat east of the intersection of Citrus County Route 491 and Mansfield Road. Mannfield was named after Austin Mann and founded in Hernando County in 1884 before Citrus County Split away.  In 1887 Citrus County was split from northern Hernando County while Pasco County was spun off to the south.  Mannfield was selected as the new Citrus County seat due to it being near the county geographic center.  Reportedly Mannfield had as many as 250 people when it was the County Seat.  The town included various businesses one might include at the time, even a sawmill which was common for the area.  In 1891 Citrus County voted to move it's seat to Inverness which set the s...

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

The mystery of Hawaii Route 144 and temporary Hawaii Route 11

The 1959 Gousha Road map of Hawaii features two largely unknown references in the form of Hawaii Route 144 and Temporary Hawaii Route 11.  Both corridors are shown running from the boundary of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park east to Glenwood via Volcano Village.  At the time Hawaii Route 11 was using the so-called "Volcano Road" which was constructed as a modernization of Mamalahoa Highway during 1927-1928.  This blog will examine the two map references and will attempt to determine what they might indicate.  The mystery of Hawaii Route 144 and Temporary Hawaii Route 11 Hawaii Route 11 is part of Mamalahoa Highway (the Hawaii Belt Road) and is the longest Hawaiian State Route at 121.97 miles.  The highway begins at the mutual junction of Hawaii Route 19 and Hawaii Route 190 in Kailua-Kona.  From Kailua-Kona the routing of Hawaii Route 11 crosses the volcanic landscapes of southern side of the Big Island.  Hawaii Route 11 terminates at Hawaii Route 19/Ka...