OSWEGO, NY – Bergmann Associates has paved the way for redevelopment of the 3.8-mile stretch of Route 104 – the Port City’s “main street.”
Prior to the start of Monday night’s Common Council meeting, Kimberly Baptiste, AICP project manager, for Bergmann Associates, the project consultant, presented an overview of the potential for Bridge Street.
Over the past several months, the “Complete Streets” process involved an evaluation of the Route 104 corridor in the context of providing safe, convenient access and mobility for users of all ages and abilities. Members of the public, people of all ages and abilities, made several recommendations to the plan.
According to Baptiste, the document recommendations improvements, as well as opportunities “to offer greater transportation choices while maintaining efficient, reliable passage for pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation riders and motorists.”
A “Complete Streets” project is a roadway planned and designed to consider the safe, convenient access and mobility of all roadway users of all ages and abilities, she explained. “That includes pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation riders and motorists; including children, the elderly and persons with disabilities.”
Councilors got to view some of the proposed design aspects of the project.
The route is divided into six areas. The plans are to improve safety for pedestrians, motorists, cyclists and public transportation.
Some ideas are wider sidewalks, more visible crosswalks, reducing the number of lanes in some areas and increased green space.
The consultants broke out the cost of each of the six phases of the project.
Among them are: the western gateway tops the list at $10.6 million, downtown’s price tag is $6.3 million, urban mixed use west area is $2.3 million, bikeway facilities would cost nearly $8.5 million and the urban mixed use east phase would be $1.1 million.
The breakout will help the city consider how it will best be able to fund the project, Baptiste said.
There are some funding sources for the city to start looking at, she added.
The city has received some funding to complete the project from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
Discover more from Oswego County Today
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The flower boxes look nice. Just curious why the bulk of the money would be spent to benefit the least amount of users, being the cyclists? Being the Wizard, I’ve always thought the yellow brick road leading to the Emerald City should look nice. My suggestion would be concrete stain the sidewalks from the college to E. 10th street. Sure made an improvement on my patio out back!
What do you think, maybe start by fixing the dam streets ?
You made a good point Ken. Unfortunately, the “special concrete stain” I mentioned doesn’t work on blacktop,.. only on concrete surfaces. However, I believe it is available in a light shade of green, so applying it to the sidewalks on both sides of Bridge street could give the appearance of larger “green spaces” without making lanes smaller in order to do so. That’s kind of like the illusion of me being bigger than life, while just being a man behind the curtain.
That’s a neat idea. How would it hold up to the salt and snow every winter?
Thank’s Steve. Much like not knowing if my hot air balloon will ever make it back to Kansas or not, it seems to hold up well… much like any similar product such as paint or blacktop sealer. Naturally, periodic maintenance would be required, but that could also provide jobs for workers over time. It’s easy to apply to a cleaned surface, and fades out nicely from its brilliant tone at first to a more natural look. It doesn’t chip off like paint, although unfortunately I’d imagine snow shovels could leave marks on the darker colors. As for salt, I’m not sure either, but probably not so much. Perhaps a “test run” on a one block area would provide the answers to these questions, or contact the manufacturer. Anyhow, for a city that has artwork on buildings, it would seem to fit right in. Don’t see how it could look much worse than plain old boring concrete. It certainly looks much cleaner at the very least.
While this “project” seems like a worthwhile venture for various improvements, (with the added advantage of job creation as well), the near $30 million price tag seems almost mind boggling. You can do a lot of improvements with that kind of money.
If this is more about safety and access than making things look nicer, I can understand some of it. How about building an enclosed dome on each side of the sidewalks crossing the two bridges like The Harbor Rail Trail has? This would benefit everyone walking in the rain,
wind and snow, as well as increased safety. They could provide more lighting as well. As for bike paths, you basically already have them. Just use the existing sidewalks…north side for walkers, south side for bikers. No need to make lanes smaller…just tear up the existing sidewalk on one side and make a blacktop bike path. This would be safer than a bike lane in the street. Bring me the witch’s broom ($$) and I will grant you your wishes!
Fix the dam potholes mayor, it would sure save a lot of people money on car repairs