Hinmanville Bridge is still closed

Phoenix, NY – Hinmanville Bridge in Phoenix is still closed after a truck damaged the bridge’s support beams last Thursday. The bridge has connected routes 57 and 48 for one-hundred-and four years, but the town of Schroeppel and the Department of Transportation have not yet given a time frame for repairs.

Owner of RFH’s Hideaway restaurant, Theresa Holbrook located on the corner of county routes 46 and 57 said it has put a burden on herself as well as the community.

Theresa said: “It’s an inconvenience that’s for sure, a big inconvenience. People trying to get to the other side of the bridge obviously, have to go all the way through Phoenix or Fulton.”

What used to be a thirty second walk from one side of the bridge to the other, now takes around twelve minutes to drive through the village of Phoenix.

Hinmanville Bridge is one of only three one-lane bridges in Oswego County; but if the damage is too extreme for repair, the new bridge would likely allow two way traffic.

“It would be more convenient to have a two lane bridge but that’s going to take a lot of time and money to get that up and going” said Theresa.

The man who state police say caused the damages, 62 year-old Larry Willis, of Oswego has since been ticketed. New York State Police say Willis failed to lower the hydraulics of his commercial truck when hitting the support beams of the bridge. Until the Department of Transportation makes a decision, commuters will be forced to take a different route.

Suggested routes for crossing the Oswego river are using the State Route 3 bridge in Fulton, or the Lamson Road bridge in Phoenix. We will have updates as further decisions are made.