BROCKPORT, N.Y. — After two-and-a-half years of delays, frustration and local business turmoil, the Main Street Bridge in Brockport opened on Nov. 10. In that time, dozens of businesses on Main Street struggled to stay afloat or closed altogether. Traffic that once flowed through the heart of Brockport vanished overnight, leaving the Brockport community split in two — literally and figuratively.
Smartypants, a thrift store on Main Street, reported a 25 to 30 percent decrease in business from previous years.
“I can’t tell you how happy I was to see the bridge open,” owner Erica Burns said. “We see so many more people come in now, and some of them say they’re only here because it’s open.”
It wasn’t just businesses that grew frustrated with the bridge closure; the Brockport Arts Festival celebrated its 29th year on August 9 and 10. They had been told that the Main Street Bridge would be open in time for the festival.
In a statement released the afternoon of August 5, Brockport Mayor Ben Reed said, “Despite our requests for details, DOT representatives have not been forthcoming regarding the cause of this latest delay. We are hearing rumors about technical issues, including the bridge not fully lowering, but we’ve received no official confirmation from the DOT.”
Frustrated, the Brockport Arts Festival posted to its Facebook page, “With 115 hours until BAF 2025 opens up, we are going to PIVOT! On Thursday we were informed that the bridge isn’t just not opening, it has been built in such a way that IT CAN’T EVEN GO DOWN ALL THE WAY!”
The festival still happened, albeit with some changes, with the community making last-minute adjustments to ensure that the festival persevered, in spite of the bridge.
“These new issues with the bridge are totally unacceptable,” local Kathie Ryan said. “I hope the construction firm is facing a massive lawsuit. All of the local businesses should be compensated for their losses and for the community being inconvenienced.”
The roads in Brockport took a hit as well, with streets that weren’t built to deal with heavy traffic now taking on the refugees from Main Street. The Park Avenue railroad crossing, for example, was forced to take action after residents complained about the crossing being unsafe.
The village added an increase in signage by the tracks, particularly a “do not stop on tracks” sign. The railroad signal lights that were timed to flash 21 seconds before the train arrives at the edge of the roadway were changed to 30 seconds to offer more warning to traffic. The New York State Department of Transportation also added five seconds to the green light at the five corners so traffic did not back up as far as the railroad tracks on Park Avenue.
Arguably the bridge’s greatest crime, however, was putting Lift Bridge Book Shop, a Brockport staple for over 50 years, on the brink of shutting its doors for good. After sending out a call for help at the beginning of October, the Brockport community rallied around the book shop, creating a GoFundMe that raised over $30,000 and showing up more often to support it. Because of the community’s efforts, the book shop was able to stay above water.
The story of the Main Street bridge is a story about the resilience of Brockport. Despite all of the delays and frustration, the community came together to showcase the power of working as a collective to support one another. With Brockport connected once again, the village is ready to take on whatever challenge gets thrown its way next.
