BY JIMMY LAWTONNorth Country This Week

OGDENSBURG, — Vehicle crossings at the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge increased in September compared with the same month last year, but traffic remains well below pre-pandemic levels, with the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority reporting nearly $768,000 in lost revenue compared with 2019.

OBPA Executive Director Anthony Adamczyk presented the September traffic figures during a recent board meeting, reporting an approximately 10% increase in total crossings compared with September 2025.

Vehicle crossings rose nearly 11.5%, while truck, recreational vehicle and bus traffic increased by approximately 2%, Adamczyk said.

Despite the year-over-year improvement, overall bridge crossings remained nearly 29% below September 2019 levels, which the authority uses as its baseline for comparison.

The continued shortfall is hurting the authority’s finances. Adamczyk said the cumulative revenue loss associated with bridge traffic stood at approximately $767,600 as of September.

“We are on target unfortunately to hit that million dollar loss again for 2027,” Adamczyk said.

OBPA Chairman Sam Burns said the decline in bridge traffic continues to put significant pressure on the authority’s budget.

“A million dollar loss every year in revenue in bridge traffic takes an awful hit on our budget,” Burns said.

The September figures offer some improvement over last year, but the gap between current traffic and pre-pandemic levels remains a problem..

Adamczyk also provided an update on the ongoing bridge refurbishment project, including abrasive blasting, painting and paving work.

He said work for the season was expected to be completed by Nov. 20. Crews had completed work on spans nine through 11 and were working on span 12. Remaining work on span 12, along with spans 13 and 14, was expected to continue when crews return in the spring.

Paving was substantially complete, Adamczyk said, adding that the painting and maintenance work had progressed well throughout the season.