NORWICH – Assemblyman Clifford Crouch recently visited the City of Norwich and offered his support in getting the city’s crosswalks completed, after department of transportation officials said work on the project wouldn’t continue until next year.

According to City of Norwich Alderman Matthew Caldwell, after accepting an agreement with the New York State Department of Transportation and some work being completed on five new pedestrian controlled crosswalk lights, work appears to be at a standstill and isn’t scheduled to continue until next year.

Assemblyman Crouch took a tour of the city last Tuesday afternoon, said that he understood the need for Norwich’s new crosswalks to be completed as soon as possible and offered his support.

“Making sure people can safely get across the road, especially for the individuals at NBT who may need to cross it several times a day for work – is important,” said Crouch. “I’m going to reach out to the department of transportation and see if there is anything they can do to keep this project going this year.”

Caldwell said after leaving the project only partially completed, the department of transportation agreed to return the following year, but the city would prefer that it get done sooner.

“We want to make sure people can get across the street safely, especially in the heart of Norwich,” said Caldwell. “This is something that is being paid for at no cost to our taxpayers, which is great, but it’s important that the project is completed as soon as possible.”

He said currently the new crosswalk near Perry Brown isn’t operational, and the department of transportation has yet to install the crossing lights near NBT.

He added that when originally agreed to in January, the project was supposed to include a new mid-way crosswalk in front of NBT Bank, and a non-pedestrian controlled crosswalk across Route 12 south of Front Street at no cost to city taxpayers.

“At this point the crosswalk near McDonalds is working, but we still have a long way to go,” said Caldwell.