The state should figure out in two years how to upgrade 30 miles of Route 17 in Orange and Sullivan counties to interstate standard, the highest grade within the U.S. roadway system, according to the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT).
And that entails whether to add a much-anticipated third lane in both directions, NYSDOT Hudson Valley region spokeswoman Heather Pillsworth said. “It is not definite, but it is a possibility.”
The targeted Route 17 segment runs from Wurtsboro down to Harriman until it meets Interstate 87.
“Our goal really is to get those 30 miles into the federal Interstate System, and this project is going to tell us, in the end, what is the best route to make that happen,” Ms. Pillsworth told The Epoch Times at a public information session in the Town of Wallkill on Jan. 17.
The project she referred to is an environmental impact review process soon to be kicked off by the state DOT under the oversight of the Federal Highway Administration.
The state has contracted WSP, a global consulting firm, to take on the job.
The project was made possible by an up to $1 billion earmark dedicated to the Route 17 upgrade in a DOT capital plan last year with the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“We will determine in this process what needs to be done to meet the interstate standard while also addressing the environmental concerns and the needs of the communities,” Ms. Pillsworth said. “So there is a lot more to it than just adding a third lane.”
Key highway features such as shoulder widths, curve radius, and acceleration and deceleration lanes will be examined, along with interchanges on both sides of the road.
At least six interchanges on that segment don’t yet have on- and off-ramps in all directions, which are generally desired for interstate highways.
Some physical features of Route 17, built between the 1940s and 1960s, don’t even meet the current state standards and need upgrades, according to DOT engineer Thomas Kligerman.
“Now, we have a chance to correct them while bringing them up to the interstate standard,” he said.
Meanwhile, traffic and crash data on the 30-mile segment are being collected to determine ways to ease congestion and improve road safety, according to Ms. Pillsworth.
The 2023 data show that traffic usually peaked on Friday and Sunday afternoons and that most crashes occurred within a certain radius of Exit 120 in the Town of Wallkill.
“We look at the traffic volume, we look at the crashes, and then we look at the physical features of the roadway and, maybe, we will come to a conclusion, say, that the fact that acceleration and deceleration lanes are not up to standard is contributing to those crashes,” Ms. Pillsworth said.
“It enables us to justify an expensive infrastructure improvement.”
And all infrastructure improvements will be studied in connection with their potential effects on the environment and communities, such as wildlife, wetlands, and noise, Ms. Pillsworth added.
“The environmental side is a huge factor in this process going forward,” she said. “The folks in this room have until late 2025 to determine what our best recommendations are.”
When the environmental impact review process concludes, that is the end of the preliminary design, which is usually followed by a final design phase, according to Mr. Kligerman.
2 Decades in the Making
The Route 17 upgrade project goes back to the 1990s, when state Sen. Daniel Moynihan got the entire 397-mile state route marked as a high-priority corridor to be included in the interstate highway system in a 1998 federal law.Since then, segment by segment, hundreds of miles in the Southern Tier region were upgraded into the federal system, but the activities fell short of reaching Orange and Sullivan counties.
“I have friends who to this day vacation in the Hudson Valley region [and] were told, when they were little kids, that Route 17 would be an interstate highway,” Daniel Ortega, a member of 17-Forward-86, a regional coalition advocating the expansion of the route, told The Epoch Times.
In 2013, the DOT completed a Route 17 transportation corridor study for the two counties, followed by another long period of inactivity.
Marc Baez, president of Sullivan County Partnership and co-chair of 17-Forward-86, told The Epoch Times that momentum for the project picked up again after several major developments came into the area, including the Kartrite waterpark in Monticello and Legoland in Goshen.
“I travel this road almost every day,” Mr. Baez told The Epoch Times. “When you go into summer months, the tourism activities are extremely high, and you’ve got to plan for it; when there is—God forbid—an accident or there is a construction, things kind of get stopped on one lane and backed up.”
In 2021, in part because of renewed advocacy, an updated study on the two-county corridor was finished, and one year later, Ms. Hochul announced up to $1 million to advance the upgrade project.
“This significant infrastructure investment is a direct result of the growth in our region and will further strengthen our ability to attract more businesses and move more products,” Maureen Halahan, president of Orange County Partnership and co-chair of 17-Forward-86, told The Epoch Times.
She added that on top of economic development, the project will improve road safety and address environmental concerns.
