MAMAKATING – Town Supervisor Janet Lybolt offered an update on the exit closure during the August 3 Mamakating Town Board meeting. Lybolt announced last month that the New York State Department of Transportation (NYS DOT) aims to widen Route 17 (soon to be Interstate 86) and close exit 114 and close or modify exit 115.

The board and some residents have been vehemently opposed to the change and have distributed petitions to local businesses. Lybolt said she is currently working with three-time past fire chief and current chairman of the Wurtsboro Fire District’s Board of Commissioners, Bill Lothrop, to get more signatures from local fire chiefs and firemen for the petition. She asked that anyone who still has a petition to return them to town hall because she wants to send everything to the Department of Transportation before her next committee meeting on August 19.

She also said the next public Department of Transportation meeting is on September 14, and she will give out the Zoom time and other important information as soon as she receives it on the town’s website and Facebook page. She encouraged residents to join the meeting and speak out against the closures.

Lybolt said for residents to let them know that Mamakating “will not sit quietly while they take our exits away.”

In the meantime, if the public wants to ask questions or make a comment about the exit closures, they can contact Mark Tiano at mark.tiano@dot.ny.gov or 845-431-5775 and Paul Lo Gallo at paul.logallo@dot.ny.gov or 845-431-5747.

Tiano is the NYS DOT Project Manager, and Lo Gallo is the Project Engineer, and they can answer any questions the public might have.

Lybolt has also posted the DOT PEL Study about the exits on Mamakating’s website (also linked here: www.dot.ny.gov/rt17pelstudy.)

In addition to the link, there are instructions that say, “click on Resources for the DOT’s information sessions.” The information sessions have all of the information about the presentation of the study that the DOT gave and other planned updates to Route 17/ Interstate 86 that the DOT has planned.

Lybolt also left a message on the website for residents encouraging them to speak up: “The DOT needs to know we are not accepting the closure of our exits.”

Additionally, Lybolt thanked Peter Goodman and Matt Mordas for distributing petitions and getting the word out. During the town meeting, Lybolt asked Mordas if he received an answer from the Department of Transportation to his own emails to them.

Mordas replied that the DOT did respond, and they said that they will be doing more public outreach and conducting more studies.

Mordas said he was not sure of the DOT’s sincerity, but he hopes that Mamakating has bought some more time to stop or stall the closure. Mordas also said that he hopes the DOT will listen to the public.