Governmental agencies are seeking public input on the upcoming environmental review of the State Route 17 upgrade project spanning Orange and Sullivan counties.
The long-awaited project will get a 30-mile segment on the state route up to the interstate standard, the highest grade within the U.S. roadway system.
Many basic physical features of the state route—much of which was constructed in the 1960s—need major upgrades to earn the federal designation, including shoulder widths, acceleration and deceleration lane lengths, and the number of ramps per interchange.
A much-desired third lane in each direction is also being considered as an upgrade option.
Once done, these modifications should improve mobility, ease congestion, and decrease the number of crashes on the route, which totaled 1,918 between 2020 and 2023.
The highest number of crashes occurred in the Town of Wallkill, followed by Goshen, Chester, and Monroe during the above three-year period, according to a traffic study.
Three upgrade plans are being proposed to be examined along with their social, economic, and environmental impacts: enhancing existing physical features without deploying or building any new lanes, activating shoulder lanes for traffic use during peak hours, and adding third lanes in both directions between Wallkill and Woodbury.
When it comes to the environment, impacts on wetlands, surface waters, endangered species, historic properties, air quality, and noise are suggested for further study, along with the range of steps that can be taken to mitigate these negative effects.
The joint lead agencies for the route upgrade project, the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), will perform the environmental review process in accordance with federal and state regulations.
Both agencies are seeking public comment for a complete list of issues to be considered during the upcoming review, which will take about a year to finish.
FHA and NYSDOT will settle down on the scope of the environmental review by this August and issue a draft environmental impact statement for public review next fall.
In the late 1990s, a federal transportation law earmarked 381 miles of State Route 17 as a priority corridor to be incorporated into the interstate highway system.
Since then, segment by segment, hundreds of miles of the route through the Southern Tier region were upgraded into the federal system, leaving the 30 miles covering Sullivan and Orange counties, the busiest remaining segment yet to be enhanced.
