New York State Route 17 at Exit 122 May 2007 PIN 8006.72

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has prepared this Design Report/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DR/DEIS) to document the development and evaluation of alternative solutions to improve the safety and operation of NYS Route 17 at the Exit 122 interchange in the Town of Wallkill, Orange County, New York. The project is part of a statewide initiative to upgrade NYS Route 17 to Interstate (I-86) standards. This report will identify existing deficiencies, define the project objectives, present and evaluate alternative solutions and discuss any environmental issues at the Exit 122 interchange. It is being progressed in accordance with the NYSDOT Design Procedure Manual and the NYSDOT Environmental Procedure Manual.

NYS Route 17 serves as the primary east-west highway corridor across southern New York State. The project area includes 2.02 km (1.26 mi) of NYS Route 17 beginning 200m east of Exit 121(I-84) continuing through Exit 122 (Crystal Run Road) and terminates 1000m east of the Wallkill River. Included in the project area is 0.6 km (0.4 mi.) of East Main Street to the south side of the Exit 122 interchange and 1.3 km (0.8 mi.) of Crystal Run Road to the north side of Exit 122.

Recent Federal legislation has designated NYS Route 17 as the future Interstate 86 (I- 86) highway. This project will incorporate necessary improvements required to bring this section of NYS Route 17 and Exit 122 up to interstate standards.

This report summarizes the project needs and objectives, then develops and evaluates reasonable alternatives to address them. It includes significant input from the local community through a series of meetings held with a Community Task Force, public information meetings, and other outreach efforts, including one-on-one meetings and telephone conversations with interested parties. The Task Force consists of local, county and state elected officials, business representatives and private citizens.

The NYS Route 17 at Exit 122 project consists of reconstruction and realignment of the Exit 122 interchange, including new and widened bridges over NYS Route 17. In addition, the project includes other transportation system improvements needed to support the new interchange, to accommodate forecasted traffic growth, and to meet the project objectives. Enhancement opportunities will be considered as part of the build alternatives.

The two bridges that carry NYS Route 17 across the Wallkill River (BINs 1013981 and 1013982), at the easterly project limit, are currently being replaced with a single bridge (BIN 1013980) under a separate contract. Work began in 2002 and will be completed in 2007. The Design Report and contract plans for that project were prepared so as not to preclude solutions for the new Exit 122 interchange alternatives considered in this report.

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The January 2002 Expanded Project Proposal (EPP) for this project recommended the No Action alternative (Alternative 1A) be carried forward for further evaluation in the DR/DEIS. This Alternative is a baseline design year condition that assumes no capital improvements are made to the transportation system. Although this alternative does not address the project objectives and is not considered a feasible alternative, it is used as a baseline for comparison of the feasible alternatives.

The following four (4) feasible alternatives and a modification to one of the alternatives to improve the Exit 122 interchange are evaluated in this report because they were found to reasonably address the project objectives:

Alternative 2C: Loop Ramp Interchange and East Main Street Extension Provides a symmetrical interchange ramp configuration with loop ramps connected to an extension of East Main Street. East Main Street is extended north, intersecting Crystal Run Road at Ballard Road. Crystal Run Road will be realigned adjacent to NYS Route 17, intersecting with East Main Street Extension. Existing Crystal Run Road bridge over NYS Route 17 would be removed and a new one constructed. Auxiliary ramps are provided between Exits 122 and 121 to separate the weaving maneuvers from mainline NYS Route 17. Alternative 2C is shown in Figure III-2.

Modified Alternative 2C: Loop Ramp Interchange This alternative is similar to Alternative 2C in that it provides a symmetrical interchange ramp configuration with loop ramps connected to East Main Street. However, this alternative does not extend Crystal Run Road to make the connection to East Main Street. East Main Street extension would be constructed to provide two travel lanes in each direction and a center turn lane and the Crystal Run Road/ East Main Street Extension/ Ballard Road intersection will be widened to accommodate the necessary turning traffic. This alternative will have fewer environmental impacts and lower costs than Alternative 2C. Alternative 2C Modified is shown in Figure III-3.

Alternative 2C1: Loop Ramp Interchange with Signalized Intersections This alternative provides a symmetrical interchange ramp configuration with loop ramps connected to East Main Street similar to Alternative 2C however, Crystal Run Road is realigned to connect to East Main Street and East Main Street Extension has been eliminated. This alternative would accommodate future roadway construction, but would have fewer environmental impacts and lower costs than Alternative 2C. The Crystal Run Road bridge over NYS Route 17 would be removed and replaced. Auxiliary ramps are provided between Exits 122 and 121 to separate the weaving maneuvers from mainline NYS Route 17. Alternative 2C1 is shown in Figure III-4.

Alternative 2C2: Loop Ramp Interchange with Roundabouts This alternative is similar to the proposed alignment and improvements shown in Alternative 2C1 with the exception that the signalized intersections would be replaced with roundabouts. Alternative 2C2 is shown in Figure III-5.

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Alternative 2E: Loop - Diamond Ramp Interchange This alternative has an unsymmetrical ramp configuration for Exit 122 with new on and off-ramps that intersect with a realigned Crystal Run Road. One pair of loop ramps would serve NYS Route 17 westbound traffic. A pair of diamond ramps would serve eastbound traffic. Alternative 2E is shown in Figure III-6.

This project will be advanced in accordance with the Federal Regulations 23 CFR 771 which implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for the US Department of Transportation and in accordance with Title 17, Part 15 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations implementing the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) for NYSDOT. Under NEPA, it is being considered as a Class I action, and as a Non-Type II action under SEQRA. The FHWA and NYSDOT are joint lead agencies under NEPA and the NYSDOT is the lead agency under SEQR. The Public Hearing requirements in FHWA’s NEPA regulations (23 CFR 771) will also satisfy the public hearing requirements of the NYS Eminent Domain Procedures Law.

Permits and outside agency approvals that are required for this project have been identified in Chapter IV of this DR/DEIS.

This report is being distributed to federal, state, county and local agencies for review and comment. It will also be available for public review and copying at the Albany office of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the New York State Department of Transportation Poughkeepsie Regional office. The public may borrow copies, to review and return, at the Wallkill Town Hall and Wallkill Public Library. Interested parties will have an opportunity to comment on the project and its impacts at the public hearing or by writing to the address below. A notice of availability of the DR/DEIS and notices of the public hearing will be published. The public hearing will be held in the Town of Wallkill.

Comments on the DR/DEIS and concerns expressed at the public hearing will be reviewed and evaluated. A Final Design Report/Final Environmental Impact Statement (FDR/FEIS) will be prepared based on the Preferred Alternative and will be submitted to the FHWA. The FDR/FEIS will document social, economic and environmental impacts associated with the recommendation, and identify special design features or measures incorporated to avoid or minimize adverse impacts. This document will also be distributed to persons, agencies and organizations that made substantive comments on the DR/DEIS or that requested copies of the FDR/FEIS. Notice of availability of the FDR/FEIS will be published in the Federal Register and in local newspapers. After publication of the Notice of Availability, the FHWA will issue a NEPA Record of Decision. The NYSDOT will make a SEQR Record of Decision. If a build alternative is selected, design approval will then be granted by the NYSDOT. Work will then proceed to the final design and preparation of contract documents. It is anticipated that these decisions will be made by the fall of 2007, and if a “Build Alternative” is selected, construction could begin in the spring of 2009. It is further

NYS Route 17 at Exit 122: Design Report and Draft Environmental Impact Statement Page I-3 New York State Route 17 at Exit 122 May 2007 PIN 8006.72 anticipated that the project would be constructed in one phase, requiring up to three construction seasons to complete.

Copies of this report and additional information concerning this project may be obtained from:

Mr. George Santana, PE Design Manager New York State Department of Transportation Region 8 4 Burnett Blvd. Poughkeepsie, New York 12603 (845) 431-5948

When sending correspondence or requesting additional information, please identify this project as:

NYS Route 17 at Exit 122 Town of Wallkill Orange County, New York PIN 8006.72

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