OSWEGO, NY – The New York State Department of Transportation reviewed its five-year plan for projects in Oswego County at a public meeting on Wednesday in the Legislative Chambers of the County Office Building.
DOT officials met with more than three dozen members of city and county government and members of the general public.
The organization is conducting a series of meetings throughout the region to update everyone on its capital plan, explained NYS DOT Regional Director Carl Ford.
“We want you to know that we’re still at work; the DOT is still in business. As we all know, it’s been a tough time for state government,†he said.
The bottom line is that there will be a smaller state government, he pointed out.
“We (DOT) won’t be able to do all we’ve been doing in the past. So how do we prioritize, how do we make best use of what we have?†he admitted. “We’ll have to be more effective and more efficient. We’re still out there trying to do the best we can with what we’ve got.â€
They have done some real good work over the last couple of years, he said using the Bridge Street bridge in Oswego as an example.
“This bridge project is a great example of what can happen when state and local governments work together,†he said at the November 2008 re-opening ceremony for the bridge. “This project provides a safe, convenient passage across an attractive new bridge over the Oswego River, while helping to improve and modernize our state infrastructure.â€
Joe Flint, Planning and Program Management Group for Region 3, explained about the types of funding and how each may or may not be applied to certain projects.
The capital plan is updated every two years. It identifies the projects the DOT wants to work on over the course of a five-year period, Flint explained.
Some new projects have been added to the 2010-2015 Capital Programs list.
They include: the Phillips Street Bridge over Tannery Creek (2013 -14), North Sixth Street over CSX (2014 – 15) and Oneida Street over the Oswego River (2014 – 15) all in the city of Fulton and City Line Road Reconstruction (2014 – 15) the city of Oswego and town of Scriba.
Among the other projects already included on the list are Route 69 at Munger Hill Road in the village of Mexico, the Port of Oswego Connector Project, the Salmon River Greenway Trail in Pulaski, Route 3 over the Oswego Canal and Route 176 at County Route 7 (safety improvements) in Hannibal, Route 481 intersection improvements – Churchill Road to County Route 57, as well as projects in Volney, Sandy Creek, Scriba, Parish and elsewhere in the county.
Both bridges in Fulton are on the program to have work done, Flint said.
“The Route 3 bridge project is the big one we’re dealing with here. It’ll be next year, if not then the year after,†he said. “That’s a big project. It will replace a lot. They’re in the last phases of design of it.â€
The city doesn’t want the bridge completely closed and traffic detoured across the other bridge during the project, he added.
They did an analysis and found the other bridge couldn’t handle the amount of traffic. There would have to be major changes to the intersections on both sides, he said.
They will stage the construction similar to how work is being done on the Utica Street bridge in Oswego, he explained.
The public is invited to share it thoughts on the program with the DOT.
The can send them to Flint at: New York State Department of Transportation Region 3 (attention Joe Flint), 333 E. Washington St., Syracuse, NY 13202 or – [email protected]
Comments will be received through July 14.
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