Hurleyville

To the editor:

Widening Rt 17 just won’t work--what the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) needs to do is to go back to the drawing board and rethink the Rt 17 proposal entirely.

According to the Associated Press, March 2024 broke global heat records for the tenth month in a row, with air and ocean temperatures hitting an all-time high. Making the highway wider will bring more traffic. And more traffic is more climate pollution.

In the face of this crisis and after New York adopted the most progressive climate laws in the country, the Department of Transportation needs to get with the program. But DOT has not done the necessary climate analysis or thought about this project through a climate lens. We need a ‘fix it first’ mentality to address the real problems like potholes and emergency lanes. We need a plan for Rt 17 that provides accessible transportation while reducing climate pollution from cars and trucks. We don’t need a billion-dollar boondoggle to build extra lanes which will invite more traffic.

When the Sullivan County Democrat published Mark Mitchell’s letter standing with Catskill Mountainkeeper and Third Act’s call for the DOT to rethink Rt 17 on April 9th, 2024, and readers shared it online, commenters came out in droves to support this position. Sullivan County residents know it, and people who care for our air, water, and communities know it–widening won’t work.