The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has allocated $3 million in the state’s FY2023-24 budget to conduct a study of State Route 35 and State Route 202 between the Hudson River and Connecticut border to evaluate traffic flow and safety issues. The study will include the Bear Mountain Parkway as well, which runs from the Town of Yorktown through the Town of Cortlandt Manor and the City of Peekskill.
State legislators have been pushing for this study for four years at the behest of residents and business owners who have voiced major concerns about the condition of the three roadways, two of which, Routes 35 and 202, overlap and run concurrently for several miles from west to east until separating in the Town of Somers.
“Motorists traveling on these busy state highways face inordinately long travel times because of the roadways’ narrow lanes, insufficient or non-existent shoulders, cross-traffic from side streets and areas of poor drainage, all of which require serious upgrading and improvements,” said State Senator Pete Harckham. “I am grateful to NYSDOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Senate Transportation Committee chair Tim Kennedy for supporting this study and making public safety a priority here, and I also thank the members of the Assembly for recognizing the importance of this study as well.”
State Senator Shelley Mayer said, “Thank you to my colleague, Senator Pete Harckham, and Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins for securing funding for a NYS Department of Transportation study of Routes 35 and 202 in Westchester. These are primary roadways across northern Westchester, and I have repeatedly heard from residents across Pound Ridge—and when I represented Bedford—about their concerns about safety and road conditions. Smooth operation of these roadways is essential for our economy and resident safety. I look forward to the results of this important study, and working with my colleagues to implement any necessary changes.”
The cost for a study of the Route 35 / 202 / Bear Mountain Parkway corridor was seen in prior years as being too prohibitive, Harckham noted, but by working together with Senator Tim Kennedy, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, and NYSDOT the funding was finally secured. Approximately 57,000 vehicles use these roadways every day, according to NYSDOT traffic data.
Earlier this year Harckham and Burdick introduced bills (S.4531A / A.344) in their respective houses calling for a study of Routes 35 and 202.
It is well understood that Routes 35 and 202 pose a significant risk to motorists and put a major strain on traffic, as well as on the first responders who answer emergencies and deal with the numerous crashes on these roadways each year.
Assemblymember Dana Levenberg said, “I am grateful for the work Senator Harckham has done over the years to advance safety on this vital corridor. We know how important this road is to our constituents and our local economy. Evaluating the road’s needs and how they have changed is critical to ensure we can move forward with the right improvements. We will continue to work together to ensure that this route and all of our roads receive the funding and attention they need to serve our communities well.”
Peekskill Mayor Vivian McKenzie said, “The City of Peekskill is extremely grateful and hopeful that this $3 million study funding announcement will expedite a sustainable solution to moving people East to West, as well as our shared vision of a multi-modal pedestrian, bike and scenic thoroughfare from Connecticut to the Bear Mountain State Parkway that honors the Northern Tier of Westchester County and its natural beauty. The County’s northernmost towns and its central city of Peekskill have spent considerable time working together on our shared issues with these thoroughfares. Peekskill is hopeful that our historic central city in Northern Westchester can preserve its Main Street walkability by encouraging non-local truck use on the outskirts of the city, thus leaving its pedestrians to walk safely through its revitalized downtown without the impact of heavy truck traffic.
Cortlandt Town Supervisor Dr. Richard Beckersaid, “New York State Route 202 (Crompond Road) is a critical east-west route through the Towns of Cortlandt and Yorktown and the City of Peekskill, stretching from U.S. Route 9 along the Hudson River to the Taconic Parkway and points east. The road is heavily travelled with both commuter traffic and truck traffic serving the many residents, businesses and institutional users located along the route. The $3,000,000 study secured by Senator Harckham and the state legislators will help all three communities and the New York State Department of Transportation plan for, and ultimately implement, improvements to the corridor to improve traffic flow, safety and pedestrian connectivity.”
A Cortlandt resident for 20+ years, my father-in-law (a 38 year NYS DOT EIC and now deceased Yorktown resident) and I used to muse about 202/35 studies being conducted periodically with absolutely nothing ever being done about it. There was even a website for it once upon a time IIRC. I see no reason for optimism that this time will be any different but maybe I will be surprised and see it in my lifetime….
Most of us here in north county country realize that north of I-287 the 202/35 corridor is *the* main east west route across the county and is for the most part an abomination to traverse from the Amawalk Reservoir to the Bear Mountain extension at any time of the day.
Certainly development and increased population in the area is a contributor to the issue but in particular the stretch from the Taconic Parkway west to the Bear Mountain Parkway extension is incredibly congested due to many commuters avoiding the cost of that “other” bridge in Tarrytown by using the Bear Mountain Bridge. Additionally, closing Indian Point does not alleviate the need for this road as an evacuation route as there are still decades of spent fuel rods being housed on the site. That in itself is separate discussion for another day along with the stretch of road near Hudson Valley Hospital Center.
In conclusion, I commend our leaders for getting $3 mil commissioned for a study and as a onetime Yonkers Contracting Co. employee who spent almost ten years in the bridge and heavy highway construction sector I recognize that there are significant challenges to remediate the issue. That said, I cannot help but feeling that if there is no defined course of action to come out of this study then it will be yet another frivolous waste of taxpayer dollars.
Getting large trucks to bypass downtown Peekskill would be a change that’s decades overdue. This kind of heavy traffic has already cost too much for the residents of Peekskill: the time people lose sitting in traffic, the additional air pollution in a populated area, the dirt, the wear and tear on city streets and other infrastructure, the noise pollution echoing through the streets. More trees help, too.
Absolutely agree, 100 percent! Let’s get those trucks out of downtown Peekskill, make it clean, walkable and sustainable!
I live in Mohegan lake and grew up in Somers near Yorktown Heights. I always did my shopping in Yorktown but for the past 20 years I never shop there because going on 202 is such a mess. I go as far as BJ’s but otherwise shop around the Cortlandt Town center. Sorry Yorktown merchants. Think of all those years of diverted revenue due to mis development of our roads