Route 17 study not promising
Report finds widening road would worsen issues
WALLKILL — A regional planning group is asking the state to consider alternatives to a controversial five-year capital plan approved in last year’s budget that would widen a portion of state Route 17 that leads into the Catskills and to popular mid-Hudson attractions, like Legoland and Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Orange County.
The Regional Plan Association, a centuryold think tank concerned with planning issues in the Tri-state area, analyzed the Route 17 plans and purported benefits promoted by the project’s supporters, who believe widening the busy road will boost the local economy and ease traffic. It issued a study on Jan. 18 that concludes that widening the highway may not be the most solution to congestion and safety issues and may not provide many economic benefits to communities along the roadway.
Last year, Gov. Kathy Hochul earmarked $1 billion for the proposed improvements on Route 17 between the Thruway in Orange County and Exit 113 in Sullivan County. The state Department of Transportation, which is working on the project with the Federal Highway Administration, recently held information sessions where the public could ask questions and provide feedback while an environmental assessment moves forward. The project is in the early stages of its environmental review, according to a DOT timeline, with a final Environmental Impact Statement expected in late 2025.
RPA’s research director Rachel Weinberger, one of the report’s authors, said it was important to release the study before all funding for the project is spent.
“I’m not actually trying to win an argument,” Weinberger said. “I just want everybody to open their minds a little bit. If people start thinking about it differently, then the DOT will start thinking about it differently.”
The DOT told the Times Union in a statement that, as part of the process of developing an Environmental Impact Statement, it is “reviewing a wide range of alternatives for the corridor — with the main objective being to bring the highway up to Interstate standards.” Those options include ways to increase mobility, improve operations, reduce travel times, improve multimodal transit options and enhance safety.
The DOT said it “welcomes the public’s input and will continue to engage with community stakeholders” as it works toward a final Environmental Impact Statement in 2025.
The current four-lane road runs through an area that has grown considerably in recent years. It is regularly clogged with traffic during the region’s summer tourism season, with
many New York City area travelers taking the route off the Thruway on ventures to outdoor recreational destinations and second homes in the Catskills. It also connects drivers to Resorts World Catskills, a large casino that opened in Monticello in 2018, and Sullivan County’s Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, a concert venue and museum at the original site of the 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts Festival.
The RPA challenges whether congestion is truly an issue worth fixing when the traffic is seasonal and mostly concentrated at certain interchanges. A draft study for the project stated that eastbound traffic is particularly severe between Exit 121 and Exit 131. The congestion drives some to use other state highways and local roads.
“I see the proposal as using a tank when you need a fly swatter,” Weinberger said.
One of the main points the study makes is that widening roads can lead to an “induced demand” for traffic over time, creating more space on the highway that more vehicles fill up. It cites research from an economist, Anthony Downs, who identified this as the principle of “triple convergence”: route, time, mode convergence. Widening roads can change how people plan their trips, the theory goes, and initial traffic improvements make driving that road more attractive to motorists. People who may not have typically used the route may start incorporating it into their trips.
The report notes that induced demand also feeds into a dependency on cars as a primary form of transportation. Increased capacity on a highway can also lead to congestion on smaller roads leading off it, causing traffic issues in communities along the route.
The RPA also emphasizes the environmental impacts of the project, such as feeding a dependency on cars and eliminating open space in favor of adding to the
roadway. It says widening the road may lessen emissions by reducing idling times in the short-term — an environmental benefit proponents of the project have pushed — but induced demand could eventually lead to even more idling than before.
“This project undermines the state’s environmental goals,” the report states.
The plans to upgrade Route 17 include converting it to Interstate 86. The report says that proponents of the project have stressed the need for a third lane for this conversion to happen, but it says that is not a requirement.
The movement to expand Route 17 began years ago, following a 2013 state transportation study funded by U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer that recommended adding a general-use third lane to the highway.
Like that 2013 study, a study released in 2022 reinforced the need to accommodate more travelers, improve high-accident locations, and expand park-and-ride facilities. This could be done by adding a general-use third lane, a High Occupancy Vehicle lane, or investing in other alternatives like light rail transit or bus rapid transit.
Catskill Mountainkeeper has also challenged whether the project is necessary or would be beneficial to the community, calling for a different approach to problems caused by the roadway and voicing concerns about its potential effects on the environment. In a statement given to the Times Union, Catskill Mountainkeeper’s environmental justice coordinator, Taylor Jaffe, said the RPA report shows that the project would be a “waste of taxpayer dollars” that ultimately won’t address the community’s concerns.
“What we really need is an alternative transportation vision for the Route 17 corridor built around better local transportation, job creation and economic growth, and environmental protection and climate mitigation,” Jaffe said. “Catskill Mountainkeeper is deeply committed to this visioning process and we’re calling on our state and federal agencies to rethink Route 17.”