Claryville

To the editor:

I am writing in solidarity with Third Act and Catskill Mountainkeeper to urge our Governor Hochul not to approve the widening of Route 17 in Orange and Sullivan Counties. 

Here is what Catskill Mountainkeeper has said about this issue, and I can’t agree more.

• Rethink Route 17 & reinvest funding in our communities. We have the opportunity to redirect funding to create better, fluid local transportation that supports climate mitigation and brings local jobs and economic development to residents of the region by investing in transit to jobs, schools, health care facilities, and our Main Streets and job centers. In general, investing $1 billion in public transportation supports and creates approximately 50,000 jobs.

• Pause the process! Stop the environmental review process. Among other legal problems, there is currently no Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) guidance available for the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), including CLCPA Section 7 analysis and compliance related to GHG emissions, co-pollutants, and disadvantaged communities.

We need more rapid transit, including investing in bus lines. Widening highway lanes has been shown to be a temporary solution. There’s better ways to spend the money that has been put aside.