WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Families Stressed by Bridge Closure

Families Stressed by Bridge Closure

Port Henry, New York - November 15, 2009

Eric Andresen has to leave home two hours before his shift starts to make it to work on time.

"It's 89 miles one way," he said, as he began his daily commute. He lives in Port Henry, New York, and works in Middlebury. It was a 30-minute commute -- until the Champlain Bridge closed a month ago. "Every day that I do this, I kind of have to numb my mind and do it because I really don't have a choice," he said. "You've got to go to work because you have to feed the family."

The Andresens moved to Port Henry from Wisconsin just weeks before the bridge closed. Eric had gotten a job in Vermont, but living in New York was much more affordable. And repairs on the bridge were supposed to be done in October.

"He went to the supermarket one afternoon and they said, 'Did you hear the bridge was closed?'" Kathy Andresen recalled. "We just about fell over. We thought, oh my gosh, what in the world are we going to do now? We just closed on this house. We said maybe we can give it back, we haven't even made one payment on it yet!"

The Andresens have only lived in Port Henry for two months, but since the bridge closed, their lives have been so stressful they're thinking of moving again. A for sale sign is back up in front of the house. "It just takes everything you just moved 2000 miles for and just destroys it all," Eric Andresen said. "Destroys every bit of it. And it causes so much stress in this house. I didn't know what stress was until that happened."

The stress is even affecting his kids. Christian, 10, and Sam, 6, were ice hockey players back in Wisconsin. Now they play street hockey together at home -- it's too hard to get to their youth league practice in Vermont. "It's one of my favorite sports to play," Christian said, "plus I play lacrosse over there so it's even harder. And I was just making friends over there, so it's pretty hard."

Andresen has a four-hour commute on top of his eight-hour shift everyday, so he doesn't see his family as much as he used to. He also stops at the gas station to fill up his car every day -- that's $125 spent on gas every week. "It's taken everything away that we moved here for. It took sports away from my sons," he said. "It takes my ability to provide for my family away. It takes owning this house, it puts it in a precarious position. I've been responsible my whole life, now what do I do? It costs me $500 a month to drive around to work. That's $500 I don't have."

He works second shift, so there's no ferry when he drives back to Port Henry at 1:00 in the morning. As he left home at 11:00 Sunday morning, he pointed out he won't see his kids again until Friday. They are costs that were not factors when he moved to New York, but will be factors if he moves away. "What happens in the future, I don't know," he said.

Kate Duffy - WCAX News