DOT to announce funding for route 12 upgrade project
NORWICH - County highway officials should learn sometime this week how much money the state’s transportation department will set aside for upgrading state Route 12 to a four lane highway along its 84-mile stretch from Binghamton to Utica.
The information will be made available to corporate and public members of the Route 12 Task Force, which includes state highway representatives, at a meeting June 24 at Commerce Chenango’s offices at the Eaton Center in Norwich.
“There seems to be a new push - even from NYSDOT - in regards to the Route 12 project. That’s a good sign right there,” Chenango County Department of Public Works Director Randy Gibbon said.
The task force, formed in 2000, consists of members from Chenango, Broome, Madison and Oneida counties. According to past news reports, the federal government has granted $8 million to the project since then. NYSDOT picked up the tab for consultants Barton & Loguidice PC of Syracuse to do phase studies. Phase one, finished in 2002 for $100,000, suggested $35 million worth of short-term safety-related improvements. The second phase, begun in 2002 at a cost of $250,000, will be revealed next week.
Gibbon said it would identify long-term economic enhancements and “offer a true justification that there is a need.”
None of the desired projects have been completed so far, however ideas from the task force were incorporated into previously initiated projects involving the roadway in Binghamton and in Utica, Gibbon said.
The federal government appropriated $5 million in 2003 and $3 million in 2004. The specific use for the funds were to be determined by the state transportation department in conjunction with affected localities and the task force.
“None of us knew how long this would take. Everyone was under the impression that the planning process would be finished in two years, but it has been going on for five,” Gibbon said.
Commerce Chenango President Maureen Carpenter said she has repeatedly discussed the project any time she has met with state representatives. “We have had the federal money, but not the state money. We haven’t been able to get the state match. The NYSDOT has said they are finally ready to sit down and review phase two of the draft,” she said last week. The improvements would benefit economic development, such as for Raymond Corp., a fork truck maker that employs about 1,000 people at its Village of Greene facility on South Canal Street. Employees use the highway to get to work from major populations centers in Broome and Chenango counties.
"As a global company with more than 160 suppliers in a four county area, we find that Route 12 in its present configuration is not conducive to efficient commercial and private use," Rick Harrington, vice president and general manager, said.
President and Chief Executive Officer James J. Malvaso said, “The economy has grown. We’ve grown. That places more demands on our infrastructure, including our roads. We would be pleased to see any contribution that the state or federal government can make to improving the area’s infrastructure so that goods, services and people could use the road more effectively.”
U.S. Rep. Michael A. Arcuri (D-Utica) said last week that enhancing travel between Utica, Norwich and Binghamton “is a critical part of continuing development in upstate New York.”
“I will work with federal, state, and local officials to make sure that we have the resources necessary to put in place the recommendations of the task force and bring much needed economic development to cities and towns along the Route," he said.
e-mail: melissad@evesun.com
The information will be made available to corporate and public members of the Route 12 Task Force, which includes state highway representatives, at a meeting June 24 at Commerce Chenango’s offices at the Eaton Center in Norwich.
“There seems to be a new push - even from NYSDOT - in regards to the Route 12 project. That’s a good sign right there,” Chenango County Department of Public Works Director Randy Gibbon said.
The task force, formed in 2000, consists of members from Chenango, Broome, Madison and Oneida counties. According to past news reports, the federal government has granted $8 million to the project since then. NYSDOT picked up the tab for consultants Barton & Loguidice PC of Syracuse to do phase studies. Phase one, finished in 2002 for $100,000, suggested $35 million worth of short-term safety-related improvements. The second phase, begun in 2002 at a cost of $250,000, will be revealed next week.
Gibbon said it would identify long-term economic enhancements and “offer a true justification that there is a need.”
None of the desired projects have been completed so far, however ideas from the task force were incorporated into previously initiated projects involving the roadway in Binghamton and in Utica, Gibbon said.
The federal government appropriated $5 million in 2003 and $3 million in 2004. The specific use for the funds were to be determined by the state transportation department in conjunction with affected localities and the task force.
“None of us knew how long this would take. Everyone was under the impression that the planning process would be finished in two years, but it has been going on for five,” Gibbon said.
Commerce Chenango President Maureen Carpenter said she has repeatedly discussed the project any time she has met with state representatives. “We have had the federal money, but not the state money. We haven’t been able to get the state match. The NYSDOT has said they are finally ready to sit down and review phase two of the draft,” she said last week. The improvements would benefit economic development, such as for Raymond Corp., a fork truck maker that employs about 1,000 people at its Village of Greene facility on South Canal Street. Employees use the highway to get to work from major populations centers in Broome and Chenango counties.
"As a global company with more than 160 suppliers in a four county area, we find that Route 12 in its present configuration is not conducive to efficient commercial and private use," Rick Harrington, vice president and general manager, said.
President and Chief Executive Officer James J. Malvaso said, “The economy has grown. We’ve grown. That places more demands on our infrastructure, including our roads. We would be pleased to see any contribution that the state or federal government can make to improving the area’s infrastructure so that goods, services and people could use the road more effectively.”
U.S. Rep. Michael A. Arcuri (D-Utica) said last week that enhancing travel between Utica, Norwich and Binghamton “is a critical part of continuing development in upstate New York.”
“I will work with federal, state, and local officials to make sure that we have the resources necessary to put in place the recommendations of the task force and bring much needed economic development to cities and towns along the Route," he said.
e-mail: melissad@evesun.com
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