This past summer, while students were mentally delaying the September 8th start of school at Hilton High School, Monroe County's Department of Transportation was working hard to make sure there were no physical delays in repairing the aged Wilder Road over Salmon River bridge leading up to the school.

Excellent teamwork and coordination between the school, County, Town of Parma, and the contractor allowed the bridge to be reopened in time for the first day of school under an accelerated schedule. This cooperation has been rewarded in the form of a 2009 American Public Works Association (APWA) Monroe-Genesee Valley Branch Transportation Project of the Year award.

Monroe County was presented the award on January 28, 2010 at the AWPA's annual banquet. Barton & Loguidice, P.C., of Rochester, was recognized as the engineer for providing full preliminary and final design services. The firm also provided construction administration. Crane-Hogan Structural Systems, Inc. was recognized as the contractor for this project.

This project was progressed by the Monroe County Department of Transportation in coordination with the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The final construction cost was $438,896. The project was funded by the FHWA's TEA-21 bond program (80 percent), the NYSDOT Marchiselli bond program (15 percent), and local funding (5 percent).

As part of the project, The Town of Parma requested that Monroe County consider adding a sidewalk to the existing bridge so that the Town can tie in future sidewalk projects. The Town's sidewalk master plan included sidewalk between the downtown area to the outlying subdivisions on Wilder Road. Incorporating the sidewalk as part of the bridge project was a cost-effective way to help the Town cross Salmon Creek–the most expensive and challenging part of the sidewalk master plan. The Town received a block grant to pay for the sidewalk.

One lane of traffic was opened by September 8, 2009, with the bridge and sidewalk construction fully completed on October 30, 2009.