By Doug La Rocque
A trip down busy Route 7 in Brunswick these days shows lot of demolition going on, soon to be followed in most cases by the construction of new business ventures.
The former A&S Diesel came down this past week to make room for Val-U Self – Storage, a climate controlled storage facility.
At the corner of Route 7 and Route 278, there stood for years Jimmy Spiak’s Garage. Jimmy retired several years ago, and the property was sold to a downstate developer.
Their sign out front says the lot is approved for a convenience store and expanded gas operation.
That alone however, and not resulted in a sale. This past week, the old garage and the house next to it on the property have been leveled and removed. Brunswick Supervisor Phil Herrinton tells The Eastwick Press he is not aware that the property has been sold, and it seems like the owners are just cleaning up to make it more palatable for prospective buyers.
Back closer to Troy, a building that once housed Phil’s Automotive is gone.
Coming soon in it’s place is a Cumberland Farms convenience store. Just up the road a little further, buildings have been removed and a Aldi’s and a Taco Bell have been given Planning Board Approval, but it is not know when construction might start.
All this begs the obvious question, what is it going to do to traffic on the already heavily congested road. Supervisor Herrington says he discussed that matter just two weeks ago with officials from the NYS Department of Transportation, asking what they might be able to do to alleviate the problem?
He says the answer they gave is “not much”.
At least for a couple of years. So as some business close and new larger ones take their place, motorists are going to have to live with the slow moving traffic and back ups.
Don’t need to stop for anything along the way, give Route 2 a try. It runs parallel to Route 7 and continues to have a rural make up. In fact there is only one stop light on the route between Troy and the Massachusetts boarder.
Keeping the business section of the town funneled along Route 7 and protecting the rural residential portion along Route 2, is something Supervisor Herrington says he and the town board members have worked hard at, and will continue to do so.