TRAFFIC WOES AWAIT
Replacement of bridge on Route 209 expected to impact residential areas
The town expects an onslaught of traffic in residential areas and along rural routes for about three months while a bridge carrying Route 209 over the Esopus Creek is replaced.
The planned closure was discussed during a community meeting Monday in West Hurley at which town Supervisor John Perry said efforts are being made to keep large vehicles from using Main Street in old Hurley to access Hurley Avenue.
Perry said the closure of the bridge — at the border of Hurley and town of Ulster, near the state police barracks — is expected to last “from June to roughly August.”
Perry said the detour for trucks is expected to be Hurley Mountain Road, with connections on state Route 28 in the town of Ulster and Wynkoop Road in Hurley. Wynkoop intersects with Route 209 near the Hurley Mountain Inn.
“It’s going to be a very big problem for many people,” he said. “You’re going to see Main Street and Hurley Avenue ... [with] a bit more traffic.”
Perry said the work, to be done by the state Department of Transportation, is happening sooner than expected.
“The bids weren’t supposed to be done until this year for next year, but somehow, they actually got them passed through and they’re actually going to be doing it this summer,” he said.
The state Department of Transportation says on its website that average daily traffic on Route 209 between Route 28 in Ulster and Wynkoop Road in Hurley, the stretch that includes the bridge, is 13,029 vehicles. The bridge is listed as be-
ing constructed in 1960 and was reported to be in good condition following an Oct. 10, 2017.
Information was not immediately available about why the bridge is being replaced.
Perry said the state police have agreed to provide assistance in keeping large trucks from driving through the historic district of old Hurley during the bridge project.
“If there comes a point in time
where all these 18-wheelers and the heavier vehicles are going down Main Street, they said they would come and police the area,” the supervisor said.
“Those homes are shaky as it is,” he said, referring to the stone houses that line Main Street. “We don’t need to add to the situation . ... I’ve seen a couple basements where they are starting to cave in and exterior walls are starting to collapse.”
Officials also are concerned about the weight of trucks that will cross the Wynkoop Road bridge, which was replaced by Ulster County in 2014.