Officials break ground in Bemus Point for the rehabilitation of the Chautauqua Lake Bridge (June 20, 2023)
The Chautauqua Lake Bridge will receive a $78 million rehabilitation over the next four construction seasons.
The State Department of Transportation held a ground breaking ceremony in Bemus Point Tuesday to kick off the project.
State DOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said work on the four bridge structures going over Chautauqua Lake will enhance safety, ease travel, and extend the bridge’s service life by 40 years, “So, as part of the project we’ve got a 4,000 foot long main bridge that’s crossing Chautauqua Lake and two 500 foot long bridge structures that split off the eastern end of the main bridge and carry the eastbound westbound lanes of traffic. These will receive new concrete bridge decks, bridge barriers, bearings, and steel repairs. These three structures total 24 spans.”
Dominguez said the fourth bridge structure that carries westbound traffic also will receive new bridge joints and be resurfaced. She said the initial work will focus on the creation of crossover lanes, “One lane of traffic in each direction on the Southern Tier Expressway is going to be maintained throughout the bulk of the project and some occasional overnight closures are going to occur in probably the next year or two down the road.
The Chautauqua Lake bridge initially opened in 1982. Prior to that, vehicles used the still-operating Stow Ferry to cross the lake between Bemus Point and Stow.
Work is expected to be completed by Fall 2026
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