The town of Woodstock will finally get a complete length of ADA-compliant sidewalks thanks to bridge repair work being done by the Department of Transportation.
“I have seen preliminary designs. We’re in very, very, very early stages and construction is still a ways away. They’re talking about the spring of 2024, but that will be here before you know it,” Supervisor Bill McKenna said at the February 8 Town Board meeting. “The plans that I’ve seen include sidewalks on both sides. They would be repairing the sidewalks on the westbound side, and bringing all the drop-downs into ADA compliance, so that we would have sidewalks from the Green all the way out to the post office,” he said. “On the other side, it calls for installing new sidewalks. So it looks like we’re going to get that all taken care of and include curbing.”
McKenna said the plan falls one property short of bringing sidewalks all the way to the sledding hill, though he is pushing to make that happen.
“The other area that’s a little dodgy at this point, it’s a little unclear is in front of Twin Gables. They’re not showing any work done there. But I can tell you that a year ago, I put in a request with Kevin Cahill’s office. For a grant…for $60,000 or $70,000. We had done a preliminary estimate on what it would cost to push that wall back to re-landscape and also to have Central Hudson move that telephone pole,” McKenna said. “So fingers crossed. I’m very excited about this.”
McKenna thanked local Woodstocker Jackie Manganaro for her perseverance and strong advocacy for ADA compliance and sidewalks. “Even though sometimes she and I don’t always agree, we’re great allies. And we’ve been fighting together for a long time. We’ve been pushing the state.”
The DOT is in the preliminary design phase to complete work on the rest of Tinker Street including four stream crossings. “And along with that will include paving that entire section, and along with the paving will be sidewalks,” McKenna said. “It’s one of the most exciting letters I got. It took me days to really to believe it and confirm it but I am very excited. It’s a great potential project and I think it’s going to happen. So I’m very excited about that.”
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