GENESEO – The Village anticipates that this summer’s makeover to municipal water and sewage lines under Main Street will cause significant disruption to pedestrian traffic on sidewalks, and will soon set up a public forum to proactively gather ideas for allowing folks to get in and around storefronts while the work goes forward.
Main Street will remain open to vehicle traffic, but pedestrian traffic, especially in front of Special Tees and Cricket’s Coffee Et Cetera, will be impacted by the project, which after a site review by the DEC now includes the removal of old disused fuel tanks and contaminated soil under the road in front of 57 and 53 Main.
“This could impact several businesses very severely, and we want to make sure we are accommodating,” said Trustee Bob Wilcox at Monday’s Village Board Meeting. “For example, if a tank is right in front of somebody’s door, we have to make sure that the businesses does not suffer as a result of that.”
Village Trustees discussed many ideas at their meeting, including prohibiting the closure of Center Street barring Summerfest and the Farmer’s Market as a critical outlet for pedestrian traffic, and installing temporary sidewalks for patrons of Special Tees and Cricket’s to get in and out of the door while crews are working outside.
Mayor Richard Hatheway said that though the project will without question be an inconvenience, the project is intended to update municipal services and save Main Street from headaches in the future.
“The whole reason we are doing this is because it will be nicer when it’s done,” said Mayor Hatheway. “The project can go forward smoothly with the same approach to construction as on Wadsworth Street, where we had the contractor and local residents in, and we had good conversation. We ask people to bear with us, and to please come to our forum which we will be setting up soon.”
PHOTO CAPTION: (Photo/Conrad Baker)
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