State Department of Transportation planners met with Brockport Mayor Mary Ann Thorpe and Sweden Supervisor Buddy Lester last week to discuss the reconstruction of Route 19 from Ellis Drive to East and West Avenues. Although in the planning stage now, actual construction would not take place until about 2005, give or take a couple of years, depending on the state’s funding resources and priorities. Actually, Brockport’s Main Street may be given a high priority, Thorpe said, because of the documented bottle-neck traffic and the high rate of accidents.

The state planners have pin-pointed seven intersections with Main Street that are of primary concern, Thorpe said. Traffic moves well-under the desired flow through those intersections. "That’s nothing those of us who live here don’t already know," Thorpe said.

How to "fix" those problems is what the planning is all about. The state officials had prepared two to four alternatives for each of the seven intersections. They wanted the community leaders’ opinions on the alternatives and will seek public input on the alternatives at a future date. At that time, a citizen’s committee will be established to work with the state on the plans.

"First they explained that they are looking at creating a whole system for Main Street," Thorpe said. "A solution at one intersection will impact how the traffic flows at the next intersection, so it has to be a coordinated plan."

Thorpe said she and Lester shot down a couple of ideas right off the bat. One of those ideas was to reduce the five point intersection (Main, Adams, Park, Fair and South Streets) to a four- or even three-way intersection. "We have to think about the accessibility of the Capen Hose Fire Station," Thorpe said, "and I’m sure our residents wouldn’t favor that solution."

Some of the other possibilities brought to the table by the state include opening Ellis Drive to the school campus, creating one-way loops from Main Street to side streets and back again, widening some of the side streets that meet Main Street to create turning lanes, and a traffic circle at the intersection of Main and East and West Avenues.

The only thing Thorpe knows that will happen for sure is that the road will be milled down and new curbs and drainage will be installed the entire length of the project. "One of the big parts of their planning process will be how to keep traffic flowing when Main Street is closed," Thorpe said.

The widening of Main Street is not even being considered, Thorpe said, adding that the transportation department is more sensitive to streetscape than it used to be. The village also has the State Historic Preservation Office as an advocate – that agency has to review plans and will make sure the transportation department is sensitive to landscaping and the impact of the project on properties.

"We’ve agreed that there is no perfect solution out there," Thorpe said. "I think what’s important is that the transportation department is willing to involve us in the planning. Between their planning expertise and our local knowledge of how our streets are used, we should be able to come up with a pretty good plan."