Good Turnout for Culvert Replacement Project Meeting

A drawing of the culvert to be replaced and its contour along River St.

STAMFORD – Just one member of the public turned out Tuesday for an information meeting at Stamford Village Hall regarding the project to replace the culvert on River St. in order to reopen the street to vehicle traffic.

Doug Murphy, of the Murphy Foundation, was present, providing some of the history of the former grist mill just north of the existing culvert and other facts about the location at the Headwaters of the Delaware River. 

The state Department of Transportation is requiring a clear right of way and a promise the village will be responsible for maintaining the culvert before it will issue its approval of the project. The state Historic Preservation Office has looked at the project and it looks as if they are now satisfied in regard to any artifacts at the site, according to officials.

Earlier this year, the towns of Harpersfield and Stamford deeded small portions of property to the village to accomplish the necessary replacement of the culvert. DOT wants to ensure there is no question over ownership of the property before the work can be done. So far, research has not found any specific references to the right of ways involving the culvert.

A survey of the area where the headwaters of the Delaware River flows along River Street and the bridge crosses it indicated the town of  Stamford owned a few feet of the right of way to the southeast of the culvert and the town of Harpersfield owned a few feet to the northwest. It is an area where property has been annexed. There was once a grist mill and the town of Stamford still owns Campagna Road.

The culvert was deemed unsafe for vehicle traffic last March and River Street is no longer a through street from Main St. to state Rt. 10.

The village is using a Bridge NY grant from DOT to replace the stone culvert and representatives from AZAR Design Co. were present to answer questions about the project and present drawings to the public.Wayne E. Bonesteel, P.E. said if everything falls into place, the culvert could be replaced by August of 2027.  Matthew Schick, E.I.T. was also present and has been working with designing the replacement culvert.

While some may lament the loss of the beautiful stone archway design of the culvert, it has been deemed unsafe for traffic. The replacement design at this point does incorporate a mock stone facade over a precast cement culvert.

Bonesteel explained that anything under 20-feet wide is considered a culvert and anything wider makes it a bridge. If it were to become a bridge, it would require an annual inspection.

He also said that rerouting the stream would not work. The culvert provides access over the stream along an S-curve. It is the third stone culvert to fail. A stone bridge on South Street has been covered by a temporary bridge and is on the list of bridge repairs for Delaware County. A stone culvert at the edge of the village near the Robinson-Terrace Senior Living facility on Buntline Drive has been replaced and was also the subject of which municipality actually owned it. The county Department of Public Works finally did the replacement along county Rt. 18.

Bonesteel said Tuesday that DOT, which is funding the replacement of the culvert through Bridge NY, wants to make sure the entire project falls under village ownership and all the utility easements are valid. It will be up to them to approve the final engineering of the project.

Money has already been invested in the project and Bonesteel said the grant will cover the lion's share of the replacement, but the village will likely have to contribute some money to complete the project.