Route 22 Closed at Railroad Tracks August 18-22

NYS Route 22 closed for railroad crossing repairs Aug 18-22 (Photo: George Davis)

If you’ve been driving or cycling west from Essex on Route 22 you’ve noticed that the road is temporarily closed between the Middle Road intersection and Boquet. A DOT warning sign/trailer located between Essex and Willsboro indicates that the closure which began yesterday, August 18 will continue until this Friday, August 22. Please be prepared to detour (via Middle Road and Whallons Bay Road).

I spoke with William Morgan about the road closure and detour, and he suggested that the closure and detour might be related to a notice the town received last spring. Back in March Brian Smith (P.E. New York State D.O.T., Region One Design) notified Supervisor Gardner that Route 22 would be temporarily closed for a culvert repair this August, but it turns out that the current detour is unrelated. Brian Smith explained that culvert repairs have been pushed back and may not even require road closure if/when completed.

I spoke briefly with Andy Cummings who is a spokesperson for Canadian Pacific Railway, and he will be following up as soon as possible with further information. In particular, I’ve asked for confirmation that NYS Route 22 will be reopened on August 22 and, if possible, some insight into the nature of repairs currently being undertaken. I’m presently waiting for communication, but I will update this post as soon as I hear back.

Anyone with more information (or the desire to share the best detour routes) is invited to share their knowledge in the comment section below. Thank you.

Visit www.nyalert.gov to learn about important travel warnings.

Update: Route 22 to Reopen Earlier than Anticipated

Andy Cummings got back to me right away with good news:

The work you reference outside Essex is a crossing surface renewal project at Route 22. We estimate work will be complete this Thursday, Aug. 21. (Andy Cummings, CP)

Aside from my obvious pleasure in discovering that the routine maintenance project may in fact be completed ahead of schedule, I was impressed with Canadian Pacific’s quick, helpful response. Thank you, Andy!

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About Geo Davis

Geo Davis (aka virtualDavis) is a writer, storyteller and unabashed flâneur. He taught and coached at Santa Fe Preparatory School and The American School of Paris, co-founded Maison Margaux: "Paris à la parisienne" in Faubourg Saint-Germain, and owns Adobe Oasis in Santa Fe, NM with his bride.

Geo chronicles adventures (and misadventures) of rehabilitating an historic Essex home at Rosslyn Redux: Reawakening a home, a dream and ourselves; blogs about doodling and other esoterica at virtualDavis.com; posts sometimes unnerving, occasionally euphoric, and always pollyanna "midlife mashups" at 40x41.com; waxes nautical at Sailing Errant; and delves into matters of parenting, babylandia, and childfreedom at Why No Kids? He meanders on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube and Flickr.