Sunday, August 5, 2018

The Wisdom of DOT

For those of us who foolishly thought we would not be impacted by the construction of the roundabout at the intersection of Route 9G and Route 23 so long as we never left Hudson headed for Olana or the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, Bill Williams of 98.5 The Cat is reporting news to the contrary: "Greenport Roundabout construction will detour trucks through Hudson." It all seems so extraordinary that I'm going to quote exactly what appeared on Williams' Facebook page, excessive capitalization and all:
The signs are in place, many are still covered up. Detour signs that will send trucks that are Northbound on Route 9G from Germantown, over a long detour before they can cross the Rip Van Winkle Bridge.
We're thinking the work zone area will not be wide enough for trucks to pass, unless they take the detour route.
The Detour follows 9G North into the city of Hudson, and follows the truck route, Over 3rd Street, Up Columbia to Park Place and over to Warren. Then up Warren and out Route 9 to 23, where they will be headed Westbound and be able to cross the bridge.
The Construction is expected to ramp up this week.
A few times this weekend, I've passed one of those detour signs, all covered up, on Warren Street east of Park Place, and wondered about it. Now I know.

Gossips Update: There are actually three detour signs on Warren Street between Park Place and Worth Avenue, all waiting to be unveiled on Monday morning. The first is in front of Rivertown Lodge, the second by Wasabi, and the third near the intersection with Worth Avenue. On the way to the cemetery for my evening walk with Joey, I snapped pictures of two of them.


Turning the corner at the top of Warren Street, I noticed there were similar signs on Worth Avenue.
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8 comments:

  1. That route is better than 9H to Bells Pond then west on 9 to 23 ???

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  2. This is nuts. There must be a place on #23 where the trucks could get turned around, rather than coming into Hudson.

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    1. I agree there're several ways around the problem using Rte. 23 alone starting with using the community college, a State-owned property with a loop road in front that's a third of a mile from Stewart's.

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  3. Didi Barrett was given the opportunity to have the trucks rerouted several years ago when we met with her, after we were referred to her by a NYS Senator on the Transportation Committee. She failed to follow through. Let her make up for that blunder by contacting people she knows in NYS to get this changed. As a historic City with fragile road infrastructure, surely this is a terrible idea that can be changed if the right people are contacted. Hmmm. Is this an election year? Just sayin.

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  4. These plans were approved by DOT etc in May and put out to bid a few weeks ago. I would be surprised if the Mayor of Hudson and the Town of Greenport Supervisor weren't given a head's up. If not, that would be a major faux pas. Here are the detailed plans complete with the signs for truck detours through Hudson and their placement: https://on.ny.gov/2nc1Tvo

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  5. It's the DOT's revenge after Hudson residents insisted that the State answer specific traffic questions relating to the Colarusso proposal.

    When the State wouldn't answer our legitimate questions, and then the City itself visibly failed to repeat them for us, the DOT instead sponsored an in-house meeting in Poughkeepsie to discuss how the agency should deal with our FOIL requests.

    All true!, and never reported anywhere before this comment.

    (Note to City Hall: the clueless Planning Board and ZBA will still need answers to those questions, the cluelessness of their attorney notwithstanding.)

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  6. Wait. Is DOT asking trucks to make a right turn at Park and Columbia, then a left turn at Warren and Park? Thats crazy.

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  7. When the recent paving of Route 9 was underway many trucks were taking 9H to Spook Rock to get to Greenport.

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