$1.4 billion for what? Locals say ‘no thanks’ to wider Route 17

Update: The NYS Department of Transportation announced on Oct. 2 that the Route 17 project will be paused to “re-assess the project alternatives in consideration of feedback received.”

“During this pause, we urge Governor Hochul and the NYSDOT to remove highway expansion completely from the Route 17 project alternatives,” said Taylor Jaffe, program manager of Catskill Mountainkeeper.

In response to New York State’s proposed widening of a 20-mile stretch of State Route 17 from Monroe to Wurtsboro, the ReThink Route 17 Alliance and Catskill Mountainkeeper have put forth an alternative vision report, “Invest in Our Communities, Not a Wider Highway.”

While highway expansions attract more traffic, increase air and noise pollution, increase residents’ tax burdens, and worsen congestion over time, community-led investments in transportation infrastructure and multi-modal transit could positively transform health, economic and transportation outcomes across the Hudson Valley and Catskills region.

With $1.4 billion on the table and 60% of roads in the Hudson Valley in poor condition, the ReThink Route 17 Alliance is calling on Governor Hochul and the NYS Department of Transportation to stop all plans for highway expansion and instead invest in many regional projects to benefit instead of burden residents. Suggested projects include fixing and repaving portions of Route 17 in poor condition, installing bus shelters, and building sidewalks and intersection crossing improvements in 20 villages and hamlets.

The Alliance is launching a petition to halt all plans for widening Route 17 and instead support locally-led transportation solutions.

”There has to be a way to redirect funding towards other projects that can improve our state roadways while maintaining the same amount of work for our unions. Adding a third lane is a short-term solution for an issue that can be solved with more investment in public transportation,” said Chester Town Supervisor Brandon Holdridge.

“Given that Route 17 is the Main Street of Orange and Sullivan Counties, we do not want to induce more through traffic, more trucks, more warehouses, more noise, more pollution and more inconvenience brought on by the unnecessary widening and a federal highway designation. Instead, we can make our roads and bridges safer, create needed climate resilience to address increasing flood, heat, drought and fire threats, address our local transit desert by providing efficient and affordable intracounty transportation, support the expansion of pollution-free electric vehicle use, and work with our localities to promote community-centered economic growth and people-centered mobility. We won’t get another chance like this one! Let’s make it happen,” said Michael Edelstein, president emeritus of Orange Environment.