DOT fieldwork studies for possible 531 extension to be complete by year's end

DOT fieldwork studies for possible
531 extension to be complete by year's end

The idea of extending a portion of Route 531 has been a project in the talking phase for more than two dozen years, but now staff from the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) and consulting firms will be performing the field work necessary to move the project forward.

The project study area is in the towns of Ogden and Sweden and is one that has drawn overflow crowds to meetings hosted by the DOT - the last meeting was on January 10 at which more than 300 people voiced concerns over the possible route extension of Route 531.

The area under study extends from Washington Street, West Sweden Road, between the Shumway Road area and the present Route 531. At Northhampton Park, the study area extends north of Route 31 toward Campbell Road. It's expected to take about two months to collect the data.

Lori Maher, public information officer for the DOT said, "We (DOT personnel) will be taking about a dozen soil borings between Gallup Road and Redman Road, generally between Route 31 and Shumway Road. We have already taken borings along Washington Street at 531, along Route 31 in front of Northhampton Park and along Sweden-Walker Road near the park. Each boring will be complete in one day or less. We will use this data as we analyze possible expressway extensions to determine more accurate construction estimates which will account for soil conditions."

The soil borings will extract samples at about a dozen locations throughout the study area. The samples will be used to determine the type and strength of the underlying soils, she said.

There will also be pavement core samples taken, farmland assessments, farmland soils information, roadway measurements, environmental and economic analysis. Once all of the work is complete and the assessments are analyzed - work which is anticipated to be complete by the end of this year - the DOT can determine its next steps in the project . The project proposals, as outlined at the January meeting, include three options: doing nothing to the expanse of road; making improvements along the existing Route 31 with a modification of the current terminus from Washington Street to Redman Road (the conceptual estimate on this option is $41 million); extend Route 531 as an expressway on a "southern" alignment (south of the Village of Brockport) from Washington Street to Redman Road. (This project brings with it a $94 million price tag.)

The next steps in the process, Maher said, will be to determine the feasibility of the extension of 531 or the improvements to Route 31. "The location of the fieldwork is not an indication of where an expressway alignment may ultimately go," she said. "The work we are doing now is a compilation of the existing conditions within the project study area."

DOT officials have stated in the past that they would host more public information meetings once information was gathered.