The Mayor Frank Ratigan Memorial Bridge is seen here Tuesday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

SARANAC LAKE — A crew of painters are repainting the Mayor Frank Ratigan Memorial Bridge on state Route 3 this week.

The bridge, part of George LaPan Highway, is one of the main veins into the village’s downtown. A portion of the right lane of the road on the bridge has been closed to traffic; one of the work trucks is parked there.

The work is being done by Amstar of Western New York and paid for by the state Department of Transportation.

Frank Werner, the president of the DC9 Local 201 union, said the crew is undertaking a five-step process, starting with sandblasting the old paint off on Tuesday.

The bottom of the bridge, where the contractors are working, has been completely sealed with tarps and suspended metal sheets to contain the material they’re loosening up and keep it all out of the Saranac River.

There’s massive vacuum hoses coming out from the tarps where the material is sucked out into mobile containers and all of the workers have their own air tanks for breathing.

Werner said that after they have removed the old layers, they will repaint the bridge with a polyurethane paint. It’s unclear what color — when asked, a DOT spokesperson directed the Enterprise to file a Freedom of Information Law request.

This bridge was initially the site of the Old Footbridge, which was originally built around the start of the 20th Century by Walter C. Rice to shorten his walks from his adjacent villa into the village, according to historical records. This bridge would be removed every spring as the log drives sent wood down the river.

The motor bridge as we know it today was built in 1957 with an extension of state Route 3 into downtown. It is 186 feet long and named after Frank Ratigan, who was the mayor at the time the bridge was built.

The area where the bridge touches down on Main Street used to have several buildings, which were removed during construction, including a house and a novelty shop.

The work is expected to last at least a week.