By Gina Greco
The New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) held informational meetings at VIEW to discuss the upcoming repairs along Route 28 in Forestport, White Lake, Otter Lake, McKeever Bridge, Old Forge and Eagle Bay and to take public comments and hear concerns on Wednesday, April 23.
DOT representatives informed community members that starting April 27, 2015, a three-color signal will return at the site of the of the Route 28 bridge in McKeever.
The signal will be activated weekly from Monday at 9 a.m. through Friday at noon.
The signals will be set to flash Fridays at noon through Monday at 9 a.m., both lanes in service.
There will also be a 45 mile-per-hour work zone established twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for workers under the bridge.
The estimated completion of this project will be the end of September of 2015, according to Ken Reilly, P.E. Highway Design Teams Manager.
The second operation will be a 9.3 mile Pavement Rehabilita-tion project.
This will begin in the Hamlet of Old Forge at Fulton State Spur and will end at the Hamilton County line just north of Eagle Bay.
There is no official date for the start of this operati on.
A priority award has been requested, so that construction can begin in early summer of 2015. The project will be completed by the end of 2015.
Hanson Aggregates was the lowest bidder with a bid of $5.5 million for the project.
“They haven’t been awarded the bid yet. They have successfully completed hundreds of state projects like this,” said D. Christopher Mosher, P.E. Project Team Leader.
“They are a very large company with a lot of resources. Something very bad would have to happen for them to not be awarded the bid,” he said.
The pavement treatment will include mill and fill and cold-in-place recycle with a two-course overlay.
All of the existing rustic guide rails will be replaced with galvanized box beam.
Mosher said they have been directed to get rid of the rustic rail, because there has been some issues with it. Their goal is to have galvanized box beam everywhere by the end of 2017.
Also included will be drainage improvements to existing roadside ditch lines and right-of-way structures.
Handicap ramps in the hamlet of Old Forge will be replaced, as well.
Two snowmobile crossings will be installed. One will be at Daiker’s Road, the other at The Enchanted Forest/Water Safari and Pied Piper crossing.
These will be twelve-inch concrete crossings, according to Mosher.
Driveway work and intersection work will also be included in the contract.
Centerline Audible Roadway Delineators (CARDs) will be installed also, but only in the 55 mile-per-hour zones, Mosher said.
DOT is looking for traffic interruptions to be as minimal as possible.
In the contract, there will be no work allowed in the village of Old Forge from July 1st to September 8th, Mosher said.
There will be no lane closures on weekends (Friday at noon until Monday morning).
This includes holidays.
The third operation is split into two different paving sections.
One section is in the vicinity Deer Hollow Road in Forestport.
This section is only six-tenths of a mile long.
The other is larger section starting near Tamarack Road in White Lake and continuing to Woods Road in Otter Lake, according to Reilly.
Town of Webb Council-woman Kate Russell stated an interest in adding a couple of crosswalks in Old Forge. One by the intersection of Adams Street and Route 28.
“I have for years watched kids from our school system cross the street on their bikes or walking,” she said.
“I have gone out personally and helped the kids cross the street. I think because it is close to the school—and yes, there is one down by the post office—but they are going to their neighborhoods…to try to cross there. They don’t want to go down to the post office to cross,” she said.
Community member, George Hiltebrandt mentioned that the school could possibly have the obligation for another crossing guard if a cross-walk was put there. He also mentioned that it would slow down traffic.
There was a concern about the snowmobile crossing in Eagle Bay, whether it could be replaced.
“When [DOT] was looking into it, it involved negotiating with a private land owner. So it couldn’t be done,” Reilly said.
There were concerns about expanding the construction hours and working at night.
“There are a lot more safety measures and conditions for night time work,” Reilly said. “We also didn’t think it was something this area would want.”
The lighting for the night shifts would add to the cost of the project, according to Reilly.
Town of Webb Councilman Mike Ross asked about a permanent fix to the heave on the south side of Tuttle Road.
“It is an issue every year,” Ross said.
The DOT had studied the project in the fall and didn’t notice the bump.
“It’s starting to go down now, so you won’t see the magnitude of it,” Ross said.
“But, it’s dangerous. We have one road that goes in and out for all the trucks and trailers. People that don’t know that bump, their trailers will go for a ride,” he said.
There were also concerns about the life expectancy of the finished work.
Mosher said it should last ten to fifteen years.
“We are going with a heavier surface course treatment that will hopefully help with the cold weather,” Chris said.
The DOT will look over the comments, questions and concerns and see if there can be any improvements to their plan.
Additional comments can be sent until May 8th to Brian R. Hoffmann, P.E. Regional Design Engineer; Region 2 New York State Department of Transportation; 207 Genesee Street; Utica, NY 13501.