by Kieron Kramer
In a letter dated February 25, Acting Regional Director of the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Sam Zhou responded to the Rensselaer County Legislature’s letter of February 3 prioritizing improvements to New York State routes within the County. Zhou’s letter says, “In consideration of your letter and after careful consideration and a review of available funding, I am pleased to let you know that we are scheduled to begin paving on Route 22 and Route 20 in the coming 2014 construction season. Route 22 will be paved from the Columbia County line north, 9.4 miles, to Cherry Plain. We are proposing to pave from Cherry Plain to Petersburgh in 2015.”
[private]In August of 2013 the County Legislature passed a resolution introduced by District 5 Legislators Stan Brownell, who is also Vice Chairman of the Legislature, and Lester Goodermote. The resolution requested a review of road conditions on State Route 22 and asked that appropriate repairs be undertaken. That resolution says, “Conditions on State Route 22 have deteriorated significantly in recent years, prompting complaints to this Legislative Body and the State from residents and businesses…The deterioration includes decay and cracking of the road surface, decay of road striping, crumbling shoulders on the road, dips in the road surface and potholes in many areas of the road.” Brownell and Goodermote represent the towns of Stephentown, Berlin, Petersburgh, Grafton, Hoosick and the Village of Hoosick Falls.
The DOT’s response to the resolution was non-committal. Zhou wrote back then, “We have many unmet needs along New York State’s vital transportation infrastructure. This is due to the current fiscal constraints on both a federal and state level. The New York State Department of Transportation strives to balance highway and bridge improvement priorities region-wide with available funding to achieve the greatest positive impact for the traveling public….Region One was awarded over $31 million in Rensselaer County pavement maintenance contracts over the last four years. We have also listed Routes 150, 20 and 22 on our pavement priority list for additional funding within the next few years…I would ask that the routes listed be prioritized by the County Legislature so we have a sense of how best to order the upcoming paving programs.” The February 3 letter from Chairman of the Legislature Martin Reid and Brownell did just that, placing Route 22 as the top priority.
For almost a year there have been anecdotes told in the Berlin Town Board meetings about peoples’ cars being damaged by the roughness of Route 22 south of Berlin. The worry for residents of Stephentown and Berlin was that this project would continue to be delayed for years, but now the DOT has committed in writing its plan to repave 9.4 miles of Route 22 this year. This is good news for the residents of Stephentown and for Berliners heading south as well as travelers of that Route from communities farther away. Route 20 in New Lebanon will also be repaved this year.
The 9.4 miles of new paving north from the Columbia County border will stop at the southern edge of Cherry Plain, around Adams Road. People driving to Bly Hollow Road, Airport Road, the BCS Middle School/High School and the Berlin Municipal Center, all in Cherry Plain, will have to wait until 2015 for a smoother road.[/private]