OXFORD – What will Oxford’s fire department, schools and highway departments do if they can no longer safely use the one bridge that links the village’s east and west sides? News that state budget cuts have rescinded funding previously allocated for replacement of the deteriorating truss bridge, which spans the Chenango River, has local officials planning for that possibility.

Work to replace the 55-year old bridge was scheduled to begin in 2009. Budget cuts announced by the New York State Department of Transportation last month mean the more than $3 million project could be out off until at least 2012.

“At this point it’s holding its own,” said Randy Gibbon, director of Chenango County Department of Public Works.

Gibbon said his department monitors the 55-year old bridge on a monthly basis. “The posting now is 20 tons,” he said, high enough to allow school buses and highway trucks as well as fire and emergency vehicles.

If the bridge is deemed unsafe or the weight limit is lowered below 15 tons, as it was prior to emergency repair in 2006, those vehicles will have to find an alternate route.

This is a major concern for Oxford Fire Chief Ron Martin, who reported that having to use the Rt. 220 bridge as an alternative could add at least 10 minutes to emergency response times. Those minutes can make all the difference when dealing with emergency and fire calls, he said.

“Every minute that goes by, the fire can double in size,” Martin explained.

Martin conducted his own time trials, driving a route from Butler Street on the east side of the village to the fire station and then back out on the call. Normal response time for a fire call is between 7 and 8 minutes, he said; with the detour, that jumps to 16 to 18 minutes.

These are strictly drive times, he said, and do not take into account the time it takes for volunteers to get onto the road after they get the call.

“There is already a delay from the time the call is made to the time of dispatch,” said Martin, as well as the time lapse between when the fire starts, is identified and finally reported.

“I understand his concern,” said Village Mayor Terry Stark.

The village has been actively looking for a storage facility capable of housing two to three pieces of emergency equipment on the west side of the river, said Stark. So far that search has been unsuccessful.