Friday marked the first time in nearly two decades that Saratoga County residents could drive or walk to Peebles Island without traveling through Albany County.

The state officially reopened the 670-foot-long North Bridge, popularly known as the Second Street bridge, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"Today is a great day for Waterford. Today, we took our island back," said Waterford Mayor J. Bert Mahoney. A bridge has stood at the site, connecting Peebles Island with the rest of Waterford, since 1835.

The current structure, closed for safety reasons since 1984, was constructed in 1915. A second bridge connects the island with Cohoes.

At Linda's Galley Kitchen, owner Linda McGaffin is confident that state's $4.9 million reconstruction of the bridge will pay off for her.

"Definitely," McGaffin said Friday. Already, "I've gotten some of the bridge workers eating here."

Located at the corner of Second and Broad streets, McGaffin's restaurant is in the village's business district just three blocks from Peebles Island State Park and the Waterford Harbor Visitor Center on the Erie Canal.

The reconstruction project also will include leveling and repaving Second Street. New curbs and sidewalks will be installed as well as a parking lot between the new Waterford Harbor Visitors Center and the bridge, all at no cost to the village, Mahoney said.

The reopening of the bridge will provide an economic boon to village businesses as visitors and employees from the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation operations on Peebles Island visit the downtown, Mahoney said.

State Parks Commissioner Bernadette Castro concurred that the reopened bridge would allow greater access to the park.

Village residents also will be able to reclaim use of the island, traditionally a place they used for recreation.

Eric Nazzaro of 26 Second St. said he thought he'd visit often during the summer, going across the bridge that ends nearly at his doorstep.

The village will begin a $328,000 improvement of streets around the bridge next year, Mahoney said.

U.S. Rep. Michael McNulty, D-Green Island, who secured funding for the project and a $275,000 grant to rehabilitate a park building as a visitors center, also announced that the Hudson River Valley Greenway is receiving $550,000 in new federal funding. Waterford is at the northern end of the greenway.