State will improve sidewalks, road

WATKINS GLEN--Residents walking along Fourth Street in the village of Watkins Glen may have noticed the sidewalks closed to pedestrian traffic due to construction recently. According to village officials, the work is being done by the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) and is intended to update the access to the sidewalks where it intersects with key streets in the village, including Franklin Street.

"The DOT is redoing Fourth Street," village Superintendent of Streets, Parks and Cemeteries Don Perry said. "What they are trying to do is, you have the [access issue]. They are making it compliant with that."
Perry said additional work on the sidewalks is meant to bring the access up to date along village sidewalks, while also adding access to where it was not included before.
"I think some of them were outdated on [the Americans with Disabilities Act]," Perry said. "They are making them wheelchair accessible. Some of them weren't that way, but they will be now."
DOT Public Information Officer Dorothy Nisbet said the work began March 23, with the work consisting of milling and paving, along with the sidewalk improvements. She said the entire project costs $1.235 million, with the work starting at the Franklin Street intersection, running past Clute Park and up Burdett Hill for two miles to the intersection of Route 414 and Route 79. Nisbet said while the timeframe is dependent on the weather, they are hoping to have the project done by the end of May.