NYSDOT to Hold Public Hearings on Jan. 17 on Route 17/I-86 Projects; Exit 122 Upgrades

TOWN OF WALLKILL, NY—The New York State Department of Transportation has scheduled afternoon and evening public hearings on Jan. 17 in the Town of Wallkill to provide updates on the projects related to the conversion of a section of Route 17 to I-86 from the I-87 connection in Harriman (Orange County) to Exit 113 in Sullivan County. The projects, when completed, will involve approximately $1 billion in upgrades to Route 17 in Orange and Sullivan counties.

In addition, NYSDOT officials are expected to provide information at the public hearings on the status of the planned second phase of the Exit 122 improvement project on Route 17 in the Town of Wallkill. NYSDOT had scheduled a Public Information Meeting on the Route 17 projects on Nov. 15, 2023 but the sessions were postponed due to “unforeseen circumstances.” The Jan. 17 sessions will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Town of Wallkill Community Center, 7-9 Wes Warren Drive in Scotchtown.

NYSDOT has provided anticipated project timelines for the New York State Route 17 Mobility and Access Improvement Project (Route 17 expansion/I-86 conversion) and the Exit 122 upgrade job at the project’s website at https://www.route17.dot.ny.gov/#/.

The Route 17 expansion, which will be conducted under the federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, calls for a Notice of Intent to be filed and a scheduled Scoping/Public Scoping Meeting in the Winter of 2024, to be followed by the release of a Project Scoping Report in the Spring of 2024 and the preparation and release of the Draft Design Report/Draft Environmental Impact Statement during the period of the Summer of 2024 to the Summer of 2025. The timeline also projects that the release of a DDR/DEIS would be in the Summer of 2025 and during that period NYSDOT would schedule a public hearing and seek public comment. In the Fall of 2025, NYSDOT expects to prepare and issue the Final Design Report/Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision.

The project website has construction starting on the Exit 122 upgrade in the Spring of 2024 with completion expected in the Fall/Winter of 2025, just as the Record of Decision on the Route 17 expansion project is released.

At a NYSDOT public hearing in June 2023 on the Route 17 expansion and Exit 122 projects, NYSDOT officials estimated that the Exit 122 project would be valued at between $75 million to $85 million, while NYSDOT expected that once a Record of Decision is rendered in 2025 on the Route 17 expansion, the department would release three projects for bid valued at anywhere from $250 million to $300 million each. Work on those three projects would likely commence in either late 2025 or early 2026, coinciding with the conclusion of work on the second phase of the Exit 122 job. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has committed $1 billion in state funding for the Route 17 expansion project.