Amanda Purcell is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media renovation of the 113-year-old Ferry Street Bridge in Hudson is scheduled to begin in 2020, but the city must first sign a contract with Amtrak before the project can advance. The 69-foot single-span, steel-pony truss bridge, crosses over the CSX/Amtrak tracks, and was closed to vehicular traffic in 2014 after it was deemed unsafe. No design schematics for the project are currently available because the design is in the preliminary stages, Superintendent of Public Works Rick Perry said. The bridge will be designed by the Albany-based firm Creighton Manning. Approximately $3.5 million in local, state and federal funds have been secured to cover the total cost, Perry said. “It took two years just to identify funding sources,” Perry said. “Dealing with the railroads alone will take a year.” The proposed project will require ongoing coordination with CSX and Amtrak. CSX owns the bridge and the property and railroad tracks under the bridge. Amtrak has a lease for operation and maintenance responsibilities. “Amtrak has to review the design and the technical aspects of the site,” Perry said. “We have to have an agreement in place about what the design will look like with Amtrak, and they are being non-responsive,” he said. Once Amtrak and CSX agree with the city on a plan for the project, the city can move forward with further survey work. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.