On September 19, 2024, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released the Route 17 Project Scoping Report, documenting the evaluation of preliminary concepts for further study. Upon first review, Catskill Mountainkeeper is appreciative that the Department of Transportation has begun to hear the concerns of our communities, and we share the state’s desire to improve safety conditions and create new economic opportunities along Route 17. However, we remain concerned that state officials are still considering a massive highway widening that would bring more traffic, increase air pollution, and waste taxpayer monies. This alternative is environmentally and fiscally irresponsible and does not address community needs.

Catskill Mountainkeeper and our allies differ with the state’s approach to address safety and economic opportunities by increasing roadway capacity. We believe this approach is contradictory to our shared goals for the following reasons:

1. We are concerned that NYSDOT is designing the roadway to encourage higher speeds. This will result in more severe traffic accidents with more tragic outcomes. The most dangerous intersections and curves in the Catskills, and where the most fatalities occur, are on local arterials and county roads. If our elected officials are serious about traffic safety, they will devote resources to where the local problems are, not lavish funds on highway 17.
2. Increasing peak roadway capacity will result in more concentrated traffic on Friday evenings, creating more concentrated demand on our local roads. This will lead to an overall increase in congestion as local roads will now have to handle thousands of more vehicles during peak times. Resulting increases in greenhouse gas emissions and co-pollutants are inconsistent with the State’s Climate Law. Increased emissions would further burden disadvantaged communities along the corridor with related health impacts, including respiratory conditions like asthma, and climate impacts.
3. This incredible investment of $1 billion could be better spent in the region through the inclusion of public transportation alternatives that employ more people and increase mobility for more residents than highway upgrades alone. Using necessary funding to upgrade Route 17 without adding additional lanes frees up funding for the Department of Transportation to allocate to land use and mobility plans that are guided by local communities.

“Catskill Mountainkeeper shares the state’s concern for safety as well as recognizes the opportunity to drive economic opportunities and increase mobility for residents along the Route 17 corridor with needed upgrades and strategic planning. However, adding nearly 40 miles of expanded highway lanes will only increase traffic, spike pollution, and waste taxpayer monies,” said Catskill Mountainkeeper’s Environmental Justice Coordinator, Taylor Jaffe. “We’re in a climate crisis and our communities deserve solutions that meet our needs, align with the Climate Law, and promote the health and vibrancy of this region.”

“We appreciate NYSDOT and USDOT’s commitments in the Scoping Report to heed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act’s stringent greenhouse gas emission reduction and environmental justice mandates. At this early stage in the environmental review process, we once more emphasize that compliance with the Act is not a mere box-checking or paperwork-generating exercise. To fulfill its legal obligations, NYSDOT will need to substantially alter its policies, in general, and its vision for the Route 17 Project, in particular,” said Michael Youhana, Senior Associate Attorney of Earthjustice.

“A hallmark of good planning is a robust community engagement process that generously incorporates stakeholder feedback,” said Dr. Rachel Weinberger, Director of Research Strategy and Peter Herman Chair of Transportation at Regional Plan Association (RPA). “While we greatly appreciate the Scoping Report’s call to meet the state’s climate obligations, highway expansions do just the opposite due to what’s known as “induced demand” — as new roads are constructed, or existing ones widened, new lanes encourage more driving. We hope NYSDOT and FHWA will take that knowledge into consideration as they refine their plans for Route 17. There are many ways to address safety without encouraging more traffic.”

Orange Environment President Emeritus Dr. Michael Edelstein stressed the conflict inherent in promoting through traffic on a rebranded I-86 given the reliance upon Route 17 by Orange and Sullivan County residents as a main street of their communities. “Inducing more and longer distance traffic through the Route 17 corridor will only further inconvenience residents of the region. Alternatively, an important opportunity exists to use these funds and additional monies they might leverage to improve total mobility within the region, promoting sustainable and climate resilient transportation options while also enhancing highway safety.”

Catskill Mountainkeeper and our allies in the Rethink Route 17 Alliance look forward to ongoing collaboration with the Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration to ensure that this project considers a broader range of alternatives to meet our shared goals.