A bit of a reach for news here, but it does bring another Interstate closer to Ithaca.
Horseheads awaits opening of I-86
By Jeff Murray
Gannett News Service
HORSEHEADS — Three years, nearly $60 million and lots of headaches after the first foot of earth was moved, the Route 17 Horseheads overpass is one month away from completion.
When the work is finally done, Route 17 traffic can pass over Horseheads nonstop, which in turn will enable interstate designation to extend deeper into Chemung County.
For beleaguered Horseheads businesses that have suffered through the confusing maze of traffic delays, detours and disruptions, the end can't come soon enough.
“It's been rough. We've been getting lots of complaints. Customers have been stuck in traffic,” said Sandy Kubler, assistant manager of Tractor Supply Co. in Grand Central Plaza. “It's making it hard for employees. They've got to leave very early to get to work. I'm hoping once it's done it will get a lot better.”
The Horseheads overpass goes over three at-grade intersections in the village and will remove one of the last remaining bottlenecks along state Route 17, which will also be known as Interstate 86. The project is expected to improve traffic flow and safety, and help spur economic development in the area.
Several businesses along Route 17 in Horseheads that lost customers when the overpass project started went out of business, but many of those empty buildings should soon spring back to life, said Horseheads Mayor Patricia Gross.
“The former Montana Bread, we know that will be Rico's Pizza. There's an Express Mart coming into where HEP Sales and the car wash were,” Gross said of Grand Central Avenue near Route 17.
“People have looked at the Agway property. I'm not sure where that stands now. So I think once the project is finished, you'll see more people looking at those sites.”
Gross is also pleased with the job the state Department of Transportation and contractor Lane Construction have done in making the overpass aesthetically pleasing.
Nevertheless, not everyone is happy with the look of the new structure.
“It took away our view. It looks like we're in prison now,” said Guy Ruggiero, manager of Giuseppe's Pizzeria in Grand Central Plaza. “We see a big wall.”
One lane of the westbound side of the new overpass opened to traffic recently, meaning westbound vehicles can now pass through Horseheads without stopping.
The other side is still closed, meaning long delays remain through Horseheads — for now — for eastbound vehicles.
“Eastbound is still a couple of weeks away. We've still got to complete the concrete barrier along the eastbound side on the righthand side,” said project manager Ron Majesky. “We're definitely in the stretch run. I'd love to get traffic up on it.”
The official completion date is still July 17, Majesky said.
Owners and managers of many nearby businesses that have struggled to cope for the past three years are hopeful that completion of the overpass will make life easier for them.
“Because of this construction, it's really hard for our business,” said Nima Maisuria, manager of the Motel 6 on the south side of Route 17. “Because of the wall, there might be some customers who have come and lost us. It's really hard. They are really confused. After everything is done, it should be good, we hope, for our business.”
John Overacker, owner of Convenient Food Mart at 2104 Grand Central Ave., said his regular customers have found ways to keep coming, despite the construction.
Overacker hopes the completion of the overpass opens the door for some new patrons.
“I don't really know what's going to happen until it does, but I feel we'll be getting more people from across the highway that we didn't get before, because they didn't want to come across all that truck traffic,” Overacker said. “I think it's something that needed to be done, and it's about time they did it.”
With completion of the Horseheads project, Interstate 86 can extend to the Elmira Water Street exit, said Ted Bennett, chairman of the I-86 Coalition.
But Bennett is more concerned about the fate of the last Route 17 project in Chemung County — the Elmira-to-Chemung access control project.
“We are behind on that section. The funding is there. DOT is ready to start acquiring property, designing and putting out for bid. But we've been held up by federal agencies,” Bennett said. “We haven't been able to get a record of decision because they haven't been able to satisfy whatever the Federal Highway Administration and Corps of Engineers wanted. Everything seems to be going along now but we have lost a couple of years at least.”
There will probably be some sort of formal dedication ceremony to mark the completion of the Horseheads overpass, Majesky said.
That's fine, but it's just as important to keep pressing ahead with the next phase, Bennett said.
“(Horseheads) is probably one of the single most important projects west of Broome County. And I'm not making light of that but again, I hope because we've done this important project that we aren't going to let up on the rest of it,” he said. “As far as I'm concerned, the next ribboncutting ought to be when it's all the way to Orange County.”
jmurray@stargazette.com