WHITE LAKE, NY — A crowd of about 40 people turned out to the former Dr. Duggan Elementary School building in White Lake on August 31 to hear details of the road project proposed for Route 17B at Route 55.

The project was explained by Kelly Kircher of Creighton Manning Engineering, who said the purpose was to improve the capacity and performance of the intersection. She said the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) assigns grades to intersections, and after several studies they determined that during off-peak times, in the fall, winter and spring, the grade for the intersection is an A through C. But in the summertime and during times when there are events at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the grade “can be an F.”

The DOT has come up with three alternatives to try to improve the intersection. The first would include widening Route 17B, and creating a left hand turn lane for drivers heading east who want to turn left onto Route 55. A new 1,300-foot sidewalk would be installed on the south side of Route 17B from Mattison Road to Shultz Road. It would replace about 300 feet of existing sidewalk in front of the bungalow colony located south of the intersection. A new traffic light would also be installed. This alternative would cost about $1.5 million.

The second alternative would include all of the features of the first, but would also correct some of the “non-standard features” of the intersection, such as the degree of banking in the roadway. This alternative would cost $1.7 million.

The third alternative would contain all of the elements of the first two, but would fix more of the non-standard features, and would cost $2.4 million.

Michael Retzlaff, the project manager, said the DOT prefers the second alternative, because alternative three is not cost effective.

Many of the comments from the public had to do with the creation of the sidewalk, which some said seems to have been created specifically to serve the summer visitors at the bungalow colony located at the intersection.

Retzlaff said the project was designed to serve all of the people who use the intersection, and that includes drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.

A couple of people commented that the project doesn’t address the real problem at the intersection, which is that people at the bungalow colony walk from the seasonal grocery store on the other side of Route 17B diagonally across the intersection, and cars park along Route 17B despite the existence of no-parking signs. Retzlaff did not directly address those issues.

Asked who would be responsible for shoveling snow off the sidewalk in the winter, Retzlaff said DOT does not clear snow from sidewalks and that would be the responsibility of local officials.

Bethel Supervisor Dan Sturm said that he thought the left-turn lane would be welcomed, and he also welcomed the sidewalk, which he said would increase safety. He said that he would prefer alternative three, the most expensive one.