Canjo stimulus work planned for spring

$1M project will coincide with repaving of streets

By MIKE ZUMMO, The Leader-Herald

CANAJOHARIE - Work on a federally funded downtown improvement project along the village's two busiest streets is expected to begin next spring and will coincide with a state repaving project, giving the village a fresh look for summer 2010.

Mayor Leigh Fuller said the project will include sidewalk, lighting and landscape improvements, including the addition of benches and trees. Work will be done from the dummy light on Church Street to the new bridge spanning the Mohawk River. The work on Main Street will begin in the Village Hall area and finish around the area of the Canajoharie Creek.

The work will be done by a state-hired contractor, village Superintendent of Public Works Timothy Jones said.

The village applied for the stimulus money last year and in April received word it had been awarded $1 million. Fuller said the area has been in need of some improvements.

"Both areas are very busy," Fuller said. "There's no question Route 10 is extremely busy, especially with the summer business coming in."

Fuller said the village plans to tie in the stimulus project with next year's "mill and fill" project being done by the New York State Department of Transportation on Route 5S and Route 10, which will repave both roads, making for a smoother drive through the village.

He said the village received a $500,000 grant for that.

"That also includes a park area west of the new bridge," Fuller said.

According to a news release from Gov. David Paterson's office, transportation improvement projects have cultural, aesthetic, historical and environmental significance and are estimated to create an estimated 84 jobs in the central New York area, which includes Montgomery, Fulton and Hamilton counties.

The release also announced projects in Herkimer and Oneida counties.