http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/09/19/camkjroa.htm
September 19, 2005
$3.6M in road projects will help KJ traffic flow
By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record
cmckenna@th-record.com
Kiryas Joel – Armed with $3.6 million from the federal government, village leaders plan a host of projects to make it easier for residents to schlep across and out of their growing community, including the construction of a park-and-ride lot for its commuters.
Almost $1 million of the funding is for the commuter lot, which will be built near Bakertown Road and Route 105 and have around 160 parking spaces, according to village officials. It comes from state-administered federal money for projects on a state wish list.
The rest of the grant money was part of a $286 billion transportation bill President Bush signed in August, doling out aid for thousands of projects nationwide.
Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, both Democrats, secured $2 million for Kiryas Joel; Rep. Sue Kelly, R-Katonah, rounded up $600,000.
Although the bill provided no information about the Kiryas Joel projects, Village Administrator Gedalye Szegedin said the money could be spent improving Route 44, installing signals at a nearby intersection and repairing and building sidewalks – along with curbs and storm drains – in the pedestrian-friendly village.
The most elaborate plan is for Route 44, a county road crossing part of Kiryas Joel where hundreds of new condominiums have been built or are on the way – home to as many as 1,200 families by the time the area is fully developed, Szegedin said.
There, the village wants to widen Route 44 to 40 feet from 18 feet, realign a dangerous Y-intersection and install sidewalks and a traffic signal.
One hitch, however, is that the road belongs to Orange County, and Kiryas Joel must either take it over or get the county's permission to do the work. Village officials have been prodding the county to turn over the road since last year, even threatening in April to seize it through eminent domain. Thus far, they've gotten no response.
In the meantime, the county plans a land seizure of its own to fix another treacherous intersection in Kiryas Joel, at Bakertown Road and Route 105.
The project has been delayed for three years because a property owner has refused to sell a 1.5-acre slice of land needed to do the work. So the county plans to begin eminent domain proceedings with a public hearing Wednesday in Kiryas Joel.
It's a county project, but Kiryas Joel has agreed to cover the land cost and pay for the excavation of the elevated site.
Yet another project planned for the Kiryas Joel area is extending Larkin Drive – the road leading to Harriman Commons shopping center – from Route 105 to Route 208 in Monroe.
The road would help areas of southern Orange County by siphoning traffic off Routes 17 and 17M, but Kiryas Joel leaders are also pushing for it because it would improve access to their village and traffic flow within it, Szegedin said.
County officials expect to secure $750,000 to begin designing that project, which they say could take years to complete.
September 19, 2005
$3.6M in road projects will help KJ traffic flow
By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record
cmckenna@th-record.com
Kiryas Joel – Armed with $3.6 million from the federal government, village leaders plan a host of projects to make it easier for residents to schlep across and out of their growing community, including the construction of a park-and-ride lot for its commuters.
Almost $1 million of the funding is for the commuter lot, which will be built near Bakertown Road and Route 105 and have around 160 parking spaces, according to village officials. It comes from state-administered federal money for projects on a state wish list.
The rest of the grant money was part of a $286 billion transportation bill President Bush signed in August, doling out aid for thousands of projects nationwide.
Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, both Democrats, secured $2 million for Kiryas Joel; Rep. Sue Kelly, R-Katonah, rounded up $600,000.
Although the bill provided no information about the Kiryas Joel projects, Village Administrator Gedalye Szegedin said the money could be spent improving Route 44, installing signals at a nearby intersection and repairing and building sidewalks – along with curbs and storm drains – in the pedestrian-friendly village.
The most elaborate plan is for Route 44, a county road crossing part of Kiryas Joel where hundreds of new condominiums have been built or are on the way – home to as many as 1,200 families by the time the area is fully developed, Szegedin said.
There, the village wants to widen Route 44 to 40 feet from 18 feet, realign a dangerous Y-intersection and install sidewalks and a traffic signal.
One hitch, however, is that the road belongs to Orange County, and Kiryas Joel must either take it over or get the county's permission to do the work. Village officials have been prodding the county to turn over the road since last year, even threatening in April to seize it through eminent domain. Thus far, they've gotten no response.
In the meantime, the county plans a land seizure of its own to fix another treacherous intersection in Kiryas Joel, at Bakertown Road and Route 105.
The project has been delayed for three years because a property owner has refused to sell a 1.5-acre slice of land needed to do the work. So the county plans to begin eminent domain proceedings with a public hearing Wednesday in Kiryas Joel.
It's a county project, but Kiryas Joel has agreed to cover the land cost and pay for the excavation of the elevated site.
Yet another project planned for the Kiryas Joel area is extending Larkin Drive – the road leading to Harriman Commons shopping center – from Route 105 to Route 208 in Monroe.
The road would help areas of southern Orange County by siphoning traffic off Routes 17 and 17M, but Kiryas Joel leaders are also pushing for it because it would improve access to their village and traffic flow within it, Szegedin said.
County officials expect to secure $750,000 to begin designing that project, which they say could take years to complete.