TRAFFIC CHANGE NEARS
Preliminary utility work starting at site of new roundabout in city
Some heavy equipment and materials have been moved to the site where a new traffic roundabout is to be created, allowing for the relocation of utility infrastructure.
It’s the first significant work being done at the site, which is where Broadway, Albany Avenue and Col. Chandler Drive come together.
“There is a combination of Central Hudson and I believe Verizon crews working in the area, performing preparation work for the upcoming roundabout,” Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. spokesman John Maserjian said in an email. “Utilities are being relocated to accommodate the road work . ... Central Hudson is working at the intersection today (Monday) to relocate natural gas mains.”
Maserjian said the work for the Poughkeepsie-based utility is being performed by J. Mullen & Sons.
Central Hudson notified nearby residents about the work in a letter.
Construction contracts for the roundabout itself were to be awarded by the end of October, but no deals are in place yet, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Gina DiSarroa said in an email Monday.
The state is overseeing the project, but the delay appears to be the result of a local issue: More money than expected is
needed for underground infrastructure work at the site that’s to be carried out by the city of Kingston. That work is to include the replacement of water and sewer pipes.
The roundabout project aims to ease the flow of traffic at the busy and sometimes confusing intersection and is being funded largely with state and federal money.
In late July, the Ulster County Transportation Council agreed to shift $5 million in state and federal funding from other regional projects to the roundabout work.
The project, once expected to cost $7 million, now has an anticipated cost of $12 million. It’s expected to be done in the fall of 2020.
Besides changing the flow of vehicular traffic, the roundabout is to include 10-foot-wide, mixeduse paths for pedestrians and bicyclists and raised crosswalks.
Signs directing traffic to and through the roundabout will be “ground mounted,” rather than overhead, as the current signs are.