New York just made another step forward in its decades-long journey to upgrade one of the most congested segments of Route 17 to the federal interstate highway standard.
The federally required environmental review is expected to finish by early 2026, after which a final construction design will be settled upon, according to the released report.
Both upgrade plans are estimated to cost more than $1 billion.
State Route 17, which runs nearly 400 miles through the southern tier and downstate regions, was designated as a National Highway System asset in the 1990s. Over the decades since, most of its western territory has been upgraded to be part of Interstate 86, making the 30 miles between Sullivan and Orange counties one of the last remaining unimproved segments.
With its infrastructure dating back to 1960s or earlier, the 30-mile segment has also come under increased traffic pressure from the growing number of residents who have moved upstate from New York City and the development of tourist attractions within the corridor.
According to historic traffic data in the report, the segment’s congestion is worst on Friday and Sunday evenings, when visitors are on the road, followed by weekday early mornings and late afternoons, when commuters travel to and from work.
Car crashes happen most often in the Middletown area, followed by Goshen, Chester, and Monroe, according to the report.
During the past three years, 1,626 car accidents occurred along the 30-mile segment.
“Enhancing safety on Route 17 is of paramount importance as our region continues to grow with new business investments, residents, and record numbers of visitors,” Maureen Halahan and Marc Baez, co-chairs of 17-Forward-86 Coalition, said in a joint statement to The Epoch Times.
“We are grateful to Governor Hochul and our local and state representatives for their leadership in moving this critical project forward.”
Though most of the 30-mile segment remains unimproved, several key interchanges within the corridor—including two interchanges near Woodbury Common Premium Outlets and Legoland New York—have been upgraded to the interstate highway standard over the past years.
Of the two proposed upgrade plans, the first will retain the existing two-lane layout throughout most of the 30-mile segment while adding auxiliary lanes or service roads at three busy interchanges in the Middletown, Goshen, and Monroe areas.
The second plan, which costs about $100 million more than the first, will add a new third lane in each direction between Middletown and Harriman.
In addition, basic physical features of mainlines and interchanges also need to be upgraded to meet the interstate standard, such as the lengths of acceleration and deceleration lanes, widths of shoulders, and spacings between on- and off-ramps.
Through the environmental review process, the state Department of Transportation will look at a comprehensive list of potential effects on things such as the environment, water quality, existing open space, neighborhood characters, and historic and cultural relics.
A “no-build” scenario, which presumes no segment improvements, will also be examined along with the two upgrade plans to serve as a benchmark for comparison.
The state Department of Transportation undergoes the environmental review jointly with the Federal Highway Administration under requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act.
“The [report] is an important milestone in the environmental review process,” Department of Transportation Commissioner Marle Dominguez said in a public statement. “We will continue to engage with the community to ensure that the end result is a project that reflects the community’s input and addresses the safety needs of the system.”
A draft environmental impact report is expected to be available for public review next fall.
