State culvert work on Route 117 draws resident alarm; town board seeks mitigation steps

Residents from neighborhoods adjoining Route 117 pressed the Newcastle Town Board on June 9 to seek stronger mitigation after New York State advised a full closure and a published commercial detour for the Route 117 (Old House Lane) culvert replacement.

Town staff described the state’s plan: DOT indicated full closures beginning June 29 through Sept. 4 and provided a commercial detour routing traffic via Route 120 to Route 22 and Route 128. Rob (town staff) said the state’s detour avoids local roads but acknowledged residents’ concerns about cut‑through traffic. “New York State DOT has worked with us in particular on the timing of this project,” staff said, but added that the project is administered by the state and the town’s legal authority to alter the detour is limited.

Public commenters argued the posted detour will not stop local drivers and navigation apps from routing through narrow, winding streets. Jeremy Salan, who identified himself from Senica Drive, told the board the low‑clearance, steep and blind stretches of Pauling, Upland and Alangquin are “very, very dangerous” and could become unsafe if drivers use them as shortcuts. Other speakers described roads as too narrow for two‑way traffic and warned of risks to pedestrians and children.

Resident David Gsky urged the town to expand closures or otherwise prevent detour traffic from using residential side streets. “This may not be a town project,” he said, “but this is a town problem,” pressing the board to seek a delay or a fuller mitigation plan.

Chief Carol (police) told the meeting police have raised the town’s concerns with the state and helped secure a later summer schedule to minimize school‑year impacts. Town staff said they requested additional signs from DOT (including signage on the Sawmill River Parkway) and will ask the state to place electronic message boards and detour signage in locations intended to discourage local shortcuts. Officials said some enforcement and signage options may be available locally, but outright closures of private or local side streets are legally constrained when the primary closure is a state project.

Board members and staff pledged to continue pressing NYSDOT for robust signage and to coordinate police presence during the closure period. The board also invited residents to submit written comments; the public hearing record on related traffic matters was kept open until noon on June 12.

The state-controlled schedule and DOT‑issued detour remain the operative plan; the town said it will seek greater advance signage, GPS‑notification requests and a law‑enforcement presence to reduce the risk of drivers diverting through narrow local roads.