Erie Canal set to open today for summer season

Bernie Ruggeri walked along the Genesee River embankment earlier this week on Kendrick Road near Strong Memorial Hospital. Looking below, he signaled crews to raise the East Guard Lock by one foot.

After a short creaking echo, ripples of trapped water became a gushing force from the river on its way to the Erie Canal.

This week crews have been busy getting the canal ready for its official seasonal debut today. It’s a process that has ushered in spring for the past 185 years. This season, canal officials and communities are anticipating continued growth in traffic and events along the waterway, which stretches from Buffalo to Albany.

At Lock 32 in Pittsford, crews spent the week cleaning a barge lying on a few feet of water as they geared up for their locks to be opened. “We’re filling the canal from here to Palmyra, opening up the lock one foot each day,” said Ruggeri, state electrical canal supervisor. “It’s always exciting to see the first rush of water head toward the canal each year.”

During the offseason, crews rehabilitate the infrastructure and perform maintenance such as brush removal, painting and replacing stones on the embankment. It’s all in preparation for the unlocking of the gates.

“You have to lift the gates up slowly so there isn’t a tidal wave of water heading down the canal, and a few days later the canal is filled,” said Thomas Grasso of Pittsford, president of the Canal Society of New York. “It’s akin to turning on a faucet in the bathtub and it’s quite a scene to see this man-made wonder happen every year.”

In 2009, recreational, commercial and tour vessels passed through canal locks 121,847 times, a 5 percent increase over the previous year. Each time a boat goes under a bridge, it is considered one locking and the number of recreational lockings has slowly increased.

More than 300 events last year

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