WASHINGTON – Both houses of Congress stamped their approval over the weekend for an appropriations bill that includes nearly $500,000 for improvements to the New York State Route 12 corridor in Chenango County.
If President Obama signs it, and the New York State Department of Transportation decides to run with it, the funding would go toward the engineering and design phase for completing a bypass around the City of Norwich via county Rt. 32, or East River Road.
Approximately 5.1 miles of highway in the Town of Norwich from the Rt. 32 intersection at state Rt. 23 to the intersection with state Rt. 12 in North Norwich would be widened and paved. The project would include replacing three bridges, some traffic control devices, and a storm water collection system.
Construction costs are estimated to be about $20 million, according to Chenango County Public Works Director Randy Gibbon.
The bypass is not currently listed on the state’s construction schedule, however, despite year’s of planning improvements to the corridor from Binghamton to Utica.
“Just about everything’s been taken off the list because there’s no money,” he said.
The Chenango County project is part of a Department of Transportation and Housing, and Urban Development final appropriations bill that was supported by U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and Congressman Michael Arcuri. Schumer requested that the subcommittee include funding for this project in the bill; Arcuri supported the money throughout the conference committee process.
