NORWICH – Roadwork this week along state Rt. 12 near the county Rt. 32B bridge building project further frustrated motorists already inconvenienced by traveling nearly 10 miles out of the way to cross the Chenango River.

Resident Cory Vincent, who lives nearby both the road and bridge construction projects, said they have been “a major inconvenience ... to do day-to-day things” in the municipalities of Norwich and Oxford.

The former Halfway House Bridge, located in the Town of Norwich near the Oxford town line, was regularly used by thousands of motorists daily to cross the river to destinations east and west and to access an alternate north/south road to the heavily traveled Rt. 12.

Chenango County highway officials closed the bridge last October after the New York State Department of Transportation flagged several safety risk factors, including cracks in the concrete deck.

Vincent said he was particularly frustrated about heavy construction trucks crossing the closed bridge while motorists couldn’t. “It’s hard to watch construction crews use this bridge as if it’s their own,” he wrote in an e-mail to The Evening Sun.

The new bridge’s contractors, Tioga Construction of Herkimer, actually do own the Halfway House Bridge, Public Works Director Randy Gibbon said. Upon awarding the company’s bid, the old bridge officially became Tioga’s liability.