Route 531 Ext-Comments to NY Dept. of Transportation

[Captain's Cove]

NY DOT held a public meeting in Brockport on March 31, 2009, to discuss the next steps of the Route 531 transportation project. More specifically, they've decided to close the project. I didn't find out about the public meeting until it was too late to attend, but I did confirm that it's not to late to let the DOT know what I think about their decision. They will be accepting comments until 4/30/2009. You can send your comments to [email protected] or by mail to 1530 Jefferson Road, Rochester, NY 14623.

For anyone opposed to the closing of this project, feel free to copy my comments in whole or part.

Michele

Captain's Cove Resort, Inc.

April 27, 2009

Department of Transportation

1530 Jefferson Road

Rochester, NY 14623

Dear Sir/Madam:

Re: Route 531 Extension Project

As a small business owner in Orleans County, NY, I believe the DOT’s decision to neither extend Route 531 nor widen Route 31 is a mistake. The reasoning given by the DOT for this decision is to instead “concentrate on multiple location-specific improvements along the corridor that would improve highway safety and congestion-related delays at spot locations.â€

If Route 531 were extended as originally planned, that by itself would go a long way toward improving the safety and congestion-related delays since people traveling to and from Monroe and Orleans counties would not have to travel through Brockport and exit (and enter Route 531) at the terminus on Washington Street.

In the DOT’s 531 Project Update and Public Meeting Announcement, Regional Director Kevin O’Buckley was quoted as saying, “In times of fiscal restraint … studying alternatives in the $75-$100 million range does not make sense…†If spending $100 million does not make sense, how then can it possibly make sense to spend upwards of $15 billion to develop high-speed rail service between New York City, Albany and Buffalo? Let’s assume that the high speed rail project would open up upstate NY and bring more people and businesses to Rochester. If those same people were to travel to Orleans County, the current Route 531 traffic problems would only worsen.

Both U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter support the high speed rail project. One reason U.S. Representative Slaughter gave for supporting the project is that she felt it would, “…boost economic activity, make our cities more accessible and attractive for business and tourism, and create good jobs.†Completing the 531 Project would certainly help to make Orleans County more accessible and attractive for business and tourism1. In addition, if the 531 Project was completed, it would make the travel more safe for the many residents of Orleans and Monroe counties who travel daily looking for jobs, visiting doctors, hospitals, friends and family, attending schools, and events, etc.

I strongly urge you to reconsider extending Route 531 into Orleans County.

Sincerely yours,

Michele S. Raines

Captain’s Cove Resort, Inc.

14339 Roosevelt Hwy

Waterport, NY 14571

1http://www.orleanscountytourism.com/

[Captain's Cove]

For everyone's information - I received this response from the DOT on 4/28, which was the day after I emailed my comments. Obviously, their minds are made up and they aren't too interested in the public's opinion.

Dear Ms. Raines:

We appreciate your interest in the project and your thoughts regarding the benefits of an extension of Route 531. While we agree that there would be safety benefits and limited time savings from an expressway extension, we can not justify an extension at this time due to the high cost, the existing/projected traffic volumes and the viability of progressing location-specific improvements in the Route 31 corridor. We have placed a draft project scoping report on our website which explains in greater detail the various studies that have been completed and the comparison of the different alternatives. The website can be found at:

https://www.nysdot.gov/regional-offices ... -extension

As part of the location-specific improvements alternative, the first project we plan on progressing is one to address the terminus of Route 531 at Washington Street, which will address both safety and congestion related delays for westbound traffic.

I can not address the merits of a high-speed rail project and I am not aware of any studies that show the traffic impact of a high-speed rail for Orleans/Western Monroe Counties. We do not believe the high-speed rail project would increase roadway traffic in the Route 31 corridor or cause us to reconsider the alternatives for this project.

If you have any further questions/comments or can not find the information on

our website, please contact me.

Thank you,

Wesley Alden, PE

Project Manager

(585)272-3306