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tZBB Northern New York's Greatest Weekly A Prize Winning Town & Country Newspaper Vol. 102 No. 48 - Gouverneur, N.Y. © 1989 MRS Printing Inc. Wednesday, July 19,1989 2 Sections - 22 Pages - 35 Cents Talc Co. : Build Route 812 Detour, Now ! State DOT Also Needs To Accelerate Its Plan Gouverneur Talc Company and the There were numerous accidents Zinc Corporation of America should join throughout the winter on the Fuller- forces and construct a detour across ville Road and it is a miracle there have their property for the damaged Route been no fatalities. 812. . Besides, the people who chose a quiet Zinc Corporation should donate some way of life by settling along the Fuller- ofits land, as should Gouverneur Talc, ville Road have had their lifestyles but the latter company should build a changed dramatically by the increased detour, most logically on the same road traffic. bed that many area residents used as a The state Departmentof Transporta- shortcut throughout the winter. tion should be ashamed of itself. % The main highway, Route 812, col- The story accompanying this corn- lapsed as the result of undermining mentary indicates it will be four or five from one of Gouverneur Talc's aban- years before they build a new section of doned shafts. Therefore, we feel Gou- verneur Talc ought to take the respon- sibility of constructing a temporary detour. . As we have seen throughout the win- ter, a detour across th. Gouverneur Talc property is only a half-mile long and takes a few minutes to traverse. • Unfortunately, a gate has been in- stalled on that shortcut and only ZCA Route 812. Commentary Come on folks. This is a state high- way, one that bureaucrats and politi- cians have howled about for decades on how important a link it is between Utica and Ogdensburg. And now the state says it will take and Gouverneur Talc employes are allowed to use the bypass now. Both companies would be exhibiting four or five years to build a one mile what good neighbors they can be to the stretch of road. Sounds like a snow job local communities by takingthe lead in in July to us. building a detour. . Gouverneur Talc and ZCA have been Yes, there's liability involved. But outstanding members of our commu- speed bumps would go a long way to nity. They contribute countless dollars mitigate any possible problems. And, to the tax base and provide a living for we're sure everyone would gladly travel hundreds of families. at slow speeds to avoid the long Fuller- They should be commended for being ville bypass. two of the major employers of the area. The dangerous detour that txisU Jt would alto be nice to commend -iiiroughFuUervillehasbeenallowedto \them for the Caking the lead in building* closed to the general p go on too long. a quick and safe temporary detour. . State DOT Claims 812 Detour Will Still Take Years to Build The dotted line in this aerial photo shows the road which cuts across property owned by Gouverneur Talc Co. and the Zinc Corporation of America which could be u*ad as atempora ry detour in placethe dangerous and lengthy tripthrough Fultervilte. The roadthroughGouverneurTalc was recently bttc after beWg open most oi the winter. A temporary detour built on this road bed would be less than one-half mile long. Tribune Photo/Jan Phillips Crews from the\ state , Department of Transpor- tation next week will be- gin soils investigation work on Route 812 near Balmat, part of the ongo- ing design process in the realignment of the road, which has been closed since October 1987 after a portion of the road col- lapsed due to a nearby sinkhole. L. Raymond Powers, regional design engineer for the DOT, said crews will begin drilling for soil and rock samples next - week along the proposed one and a half mile align- ment. Completion of the design work is due in 1991, Mr. Powers said. According to the DOTs present schedule, con- struction of the project would begin in Spring 1992, with completion up to one to two years later. Mr. Powers 6aid his department anticipates the construction period will be longer for this proj- ect because they expect the contractor will encounter rock excavation. He said the department is trying to shorten the construction period, but noted that \because of the kind of project it is, with the issue of potentially hazardous material like talc or asbestos, it takes longer.\ * Mr. Powers said the project is more or less on schedule with what the .DOT outlined to local resi- dents at a public meeting in Fowler last fall. He noted that the soils crews should begin receiv- ing some of the informa- tion from drilling within a couple of weeks, while soils analysis will take longer. \The depth of the bed- rock is one of the issues we're interested in, and we'll discover that during the drilling,\ he said. Meanwhile, motorists continue to use a detour route, which adds four miles to the trip from Balmat to Fowler. Resi- dents in th epast have voiced concerns about trucks and school buses traveling on the detour route, which they say is not designed for such traf- fic. Bicycle, Walker Safety Causes Village Board to Look at Light By Lisa L. Reape *• A local resident's concerns about bicycle and pe- destrian safety on the east side of the village have prompted the village board to ask for a re-evaluation of the need for additional traffic controls on Route 11, in light of the pending prison construction on Scotch Settlement Road. 4 During the public forum portion of the meeting, trustees heard from Linda Schupp, 342 E. Main St., \who approached the board on a variety ofbicycle and pedestrian issues, including the lack of a crosswalk and the lack of a traffic light on the east side of the 'village \• Ms. Schupp voiced concerns about the difficulty * pedestrians, particularly children w+th bicycles, face *\ when trying to cross East Main Street in the vicinity of P and C and Carl's Drugs ' - Village Administrator Scott A Hudson acknowl- * edged what he called the Very congested* nature of the area due to the five entrances that exist between .F and C Foods and CaiT» Drugs .* He said the village had asked the state Depart . tnent ofTransportation to evaluate the traffic condi- tion last spring, but DOT officials maintained there :<was insufficient traffic at that time to warrant a \traffic light ••• Mr Hudson strewed, however, that at no time did the DOT rule out returning to the village to re- . evaluate the situation, should traffic conditions .-change * In fact, he said the village had planned to ask the DOT to re-address the issue, now that Gouverneur b#en named to hoct a prison. *M this point, the Department rfCorr%ct»om has not said how they will route traffic in and out of the prison,\ Mr. Hudson said. Regardless of what route is chosen, however, Mr. Hudson said Ve realize we will have a tremendous increase in traffic once the prison construction starts.\ On the question of possibily reducing the number of entrances to the P and C/CaiTs Drugs \plaza Mr Hudson noted that the DOT, which is concerned about the number of entryways onto a state high- way, made no comment on the number serving P and C and Carl's during its evaluation last year Ms Schupp suggested out that a traffic light would not only facilitate easier entering and exiting of traffic to those stores, but would also force traffic coming into the village to slow down Mr. Hudson noted those arguments had been made U> the DOT at the time of the evalation last spring Mayor Laura M. Slate also noted that DOT had expressed concerns about possible traffic backup if a light were installed, a situation that could prove dangerous for vehicles on Scotch Settlement Road in the event of a train «n the railroad tracks Trustee Eldon Conklin asked if the board could ask the state to take another look at the situation T think we can write a letter asking if they the DOT' are aware of the Department of Corrections' plan to build a prison here,\ Mr Hudson said Trustee Conklin further suggested that the letter should come from the village planning board. *~ith which the board concurred. On the istoe of bicycle and pedestrian safety in general, Mr Hudson informed Ms Schupp that there ii a local law which prohibits ndi ng bicycle* on which is enforced by the village police This is a portion of Route 812, as seen from the air, which is unusable because ft caved in when an abandoned mine shaft owned by Gouverneur Talc Co. gave way under the highway. Tribune Photo Jan Phillips Want Some Action on Rt. 812? Contact One of These People Senator John M. McHugh Senate District Office co Dulles State Office Building Watertown, NY 13601 (315) 785-2430 Assemblyman John G.A. O Neil District Office: Bex 1120 Room 505 Raymond Hall SUC at Potsdam Potsdam, NY 13676 (315)285-8200 . *- D ana Putman New York State Senate • General Manager Room 814 Gouvemeur Talc Company Legislative Fowter-Balmat Road Office Building Gouvemeur, NY 13642 Albany, NY 12247 287-0100 (518) Albany Office Room 532 Legislative Office Building Albany, HY 12248 (518)
