Road resurfacing and widening, sidewalks and crosswalks, new welcome signs on list of improvements

By Jason Emerson

Editor

One million dollars goes a long way, and Nelson town board recently received some good news that the state of New York has agreed to spend just that amount to improve the streetscape — and thereby pedestrian and vehicular safety — in the heart of the hamlet.

The list of improvements — some definite and some hoped for — includes the resurfacing and restriping of one mile of Route 20, including the addition of a center two-way left turn lane; new and replacement sidewalks on each side of the highway within the hamlet; the addition of crosswalks; reduced speed limits; and signing improvements as needed. Other elements such as bicycle lanes, on-street parking, new welcome signs at the hamlet gateways, landscaping and lighting improvements at the Nelson/Erieville Road intersection will be evaluated during the project development and design process.

To accomplish this, the town’s Capital Highway and Pedestrian Safety Project on Route 20 has officially been added to the state Department of Transportation’s five-year capital construction program for Region 2, which means it definitely will happen – and is slated for spring 2018. The town’s intention to bring the same streetscape improvements to the village entry points on Nelson and Erieville-Nelson roads will not be part of the funding — since they are not state roads — but the town board intends to seek other funding sources to help make those happen as well.

Also on the list of hoped-for improvements is the creation of a nature trail from Route 20 through the woods to the town office building on Nelson Road, which would in effect create a loop trail back to Route 20 on the new sidewalks.

“This is great news,” Supervisor Roger Bradstreet said during the town board’s Sept. 8 regular meeting, when he announced the letter of approval from the state DOT.

John Dunkle, who is chair of the town’s planning board, a professional engineer and the town engineer for Cazenovia, is coordinating the effort for Nelson. He told the board that $1 million “is quite a bit of money,” and should allow for the completion of the “extra” aspects of the project beyond the definites of the road and sidewalks additions. “I suggest the streetscape committee meet a few more times with the DOT to give them the full scope of the project we would like to see.”

Dunkle said that while the DOT project only includes the miles of street and sidewalk improvements, the state letter approving the funding mentioned the additional improvements hoped-for by the town – such as lampposts, landscaping and gateway signs – and “they would not have put the extras in the letter if they had not thought about it.”

While the DOT work is slated to occur in 2018, the striping for a Route 20 crosswalk from Nelson Farms to Peaks Coffee Co. will hopefully happen this fall, Bradstreet said. In order for that to occur, both business owners need to spend their own money to build crosswalk curb ramps at the appropriate locations, which both have so far expressed a willingness to do, he said.

The board also discussed how it would maintain — and fund the maintenance — of the two-and-a-half miles of sidewalks, especially the winter plowing, and considered the creation of a downtown improvement district to make that happen.

The streetscape committee and full board will continue to discuss the Route 20 project and the ancillary projects off Route 20 that would need other funding sources, the board agreed.

Also discussed at the board meeting were plans, currently in the initial stages, of adding new trails within the Nelson Swamp area with the help of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, and bringing public water from the end of the village of Cazenovia towards Nelson to the top of the hill on Route 20, around the Trush Office Park. The latter project, which is a $2.8 million joint project with the town of Cazenovia, still needs detailed planning as well as state support and funding to occur, which all three municipalities are currently undertaking.