Merchant questions road project committee

Downtown merchants in the Village of Brockport have been questioning officials, have met with them and have also had meetings with NYS Department of Transportation officials to discuss the pending Main Street project.

At the September 18 village board meeting, merchant Anthony Peone asked what was going on with the Brockport "construction/destruction" project. "You (the board) had mentioned a committee would be formed. Why are members of the Walk!Bike! Brockport group on the committee? Their idea of running a bike path down Main Street is not very business friendly," he said. "When you put the group together I hope you remember that the Brockport Merchant's Association is not the only merchant's association in town."

Peone said with the Smith Street bridge being closed to traffic and the potential for Main Street to be down to one lane, people will not want to be shopping on Main Street.

Trustee Carrie Maziarz said the committee will have 12 representatives from various organizations including merchants, Chamber of Commerce, Town of Sweden representatives and others. "The committee will be a cross section of community and merchants," she said.

Mayor Mort Wexler said there is a meeting scheduled for the end of the month with "two elected officials from Albany" who will be coming out to meet with village officials on what can be done about the Smith Street bridge. The bride was closed by DOT officials when it was deemed unsafe for vehicle traffic. "Right now we are in limbo. We are one (community) of many in the state experiencing problems with a closed bridge," Wexler said. "The existence of two other bridges within the vicinity of Smith Street doesn't help our cause."

September 24, 2006