Residents looking for specifics, but few details are known now

MALONE — A 90-minute forum Wednesday on the proposed Northern Tier Expressway drew about 60 Franklin County people wanting details on the path it would take through their communities.

But the consultants who created the plan said it is still in conceptual form, and specifics like those aren't included yet.

A transportation study conducted for the state Department of Transportation and Development Authority of the North Country recommends creation of a 175-mile four-lane rural highway to connect Watertown and Rouses Point via U.S. Route 11.

A meeting on changes proposed in Clinton County will be held at 7 tonight at the county's Emergency Services Center in Plattsburgh.

Route 11 passes through Franklin County at Moira, Brushton, North Bangor, Malone and Chateaugay, and residents from those communities wanted answers as to how their lives would be altered by such a project.

But Mike Morehouse, formerly of Wilbur Smith Associates which completed the draft Route 11 Corridor Study, said his team was asked to make recommendations of how to make traveling on Route 11 more time efficient and safer with possible community bypasses to boost economic development and eventually tie in to a regional highway system.

He said there is no federal money or state funds earmarked for an expressway and that even if money were available, it would take about 10 years to go through the necessary permitting and design needed for the project.

That's why interim improvements were the focus of the study, Morehouse said.

"If the expressway ever comes, we want to be sure communities are protected," he said, adding that the items suggested in the plan "are things we think we can accomplish."

Street-level changes include added turning lanes, retimed traffic signals, shared road usage with bicyclists and upgraded guiderails in communities along the corridor.

He said the idea is "to re-enforce villages as places" by increasing the quality of life for residents.

There is a $12 million pool of DOT funds available for smaller corridor-related projects, "and I think the community should get organized with the DOT and resident engineers and start talking about that," Morehouse said.

Most of those attending were concerned that even more trucks would speed past their homes if a four-lane route were built and that congestion in the villages would increase.

Malone Village Mayor Brent Stewart asked if something could be done by DOT now to slow speeding truckers because some pedestrians fear crossing the street at certain times.

Wayne Miller wanted to know why the less-traveled, less-populated Route 11B was not chosen as the main expressway path.

Morehouse said that roadway is not designated in the National Highway System, and any improvements would not be eligible for federal funding.

Some worried the state would force sidewalks, bike paths and wider roadways on to their property or just seize their land, while others wondered if noise buffers would be considered in high-traffic areas.

E-mail Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com