This isn’t good news for anyone planning on cruising the Great Loop or the inland portions of the Northeast this summer. Now, on top of all the problems with closings and delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it turns out that the Erie Canal might not open on time.
The Canal, a historic 363-mile stretch from Albany, on the Hudson, to Buffalo, on Lake Erie, may not open as scheduled on May 15 because of delayed maintenance and repair work on seven locks there, starting with Lockport, at the western end of the canal, and running east. An eighth canal involved in the delay is at Whitehall, which actually is at the northern tip of the Champlain Canal, where it enters Lake Champlain.
The Erie Canal forms an important part of the Great Loop and is an iconic destination in its own right. Completed in 1825, it was 40 feet wide and four feet deep at the time, and it had a towpath where mules pulled barges, carrying cargo from the Great Lakes to New York, along the side.
Cruisers planning the Great Loop already have to work around previously announced closings of some locks on the Illinois River, between Chicago and the Mississippi. Now they need to plan around possible delays on the Erie Canal and the Champlain Canal as well.
The problem started when off-season maintenance and repair work was halted on March 17, because of the pandemic. The Canal Corporation, which runs the canal, issued a statement that it is “currently evaluating operational options to ensure New Yorkers will have access to the Canal system this season.”
In addition to Lockport, the other locks involved in the Erie Canal delay are in Rochester, Clyde, Brewerton, Schuyler, Yosts, and Niskayuna.
BoatUS has urged the New York Power Authority, the Canal Corporation’s parent body, to say when the work will be completed so that the impact on cruisers, and the local communities, will be minimized. Scott Croft, the BoatUS VP for Public Affairs, said “the canal system is not only a critical waterway for recreational boaters, but also to the full recovery of New York State. It’s an economic engine for upstate communities from May through October, and it’s vital to have as much of the season as possible.” Read more:
https://www.boatus.com/news-room/release/boatus-questions-work-stoppage-on-the-erie-ca
