By CRAIG FREILICH

CANTON – Getting around downtown will be a bigger headache than usual for the next two construction seasons.

Traffic will be diverted, sidewalks will be chewed up and replaced, businesses and their customers will be inconvenienced, and there will be other challenges.

But when the work on the one-mile stretch of Main Street is finished, the promise is that traffic flow should be much better than it is today.

The project will run from Stiles Avenue on East Main, through the downtown business district, and across the Grasse River bridges to Gouverneur Street, where Rt. 11 turns south toward DeKalb Junction and Gouverneur. It will include intersections at Court and Main and at Riverside Drive up to State Street.

Since the road will be all torn up anyway, the village and state Department of Transportation plan to also replace water and sewer lines and storm drains. But that will add to the hardship on drivers and on downtown businesses.

“It’s a concern, definitely,” said Sally Hill, executive director at the Canton Chamber of Commerce. “We all think we can make it through. It’s going to be a mess, but Canton certainly won’t be closed, and we’re trying to get that message out.”

Hill notes there is no schedule yet to plan around. DOT says the schedule is up to the contractor, and the contract has not been awarded yet.

Bids are being submitted now and will be opened on March 22. Then DOT plans to verify that the low bidder is capable of the work and everything else it entails. If the firm is approved, the actual award of the contract will be made early in May.

Then pre-construction conferences will be held, schedules will be sketched, and work will begin, according to DOT Region 7 spokesman Michael Flick.

That’s when the digging, road milling, laying pipe, putting up new signals and streetlights and trees, and paving and marking begin. It won’t be done until fall, 2013.

Some downtown merchants are concerned.

Concern for Appearance

“I seriously believe that reality has not set in about what’s going to happen,” said Marilyn Mintener, owner of The Pear Tree, at 77 Main St.

Mintener, who has been a downtown business owner for 32 years, admits “it will be good if we can survive this two-year project.”

Aside from straight business considerations, Mintener is concerned about the look of Main Street after the antique streetlights and the trees along the road are taken down. She and her husband, Brad, are involved with the Holiday of Lights each winter, when downtown is festooned with white lights.

The streetlights will be replaced with new ornamental fixtures, and new trees will be planted, but it won’t be the same, she said.

Also being replaced are sidewalks along the route and entrance steps that could be hazardous.

“It’s hard for business owners,” said village Trustee Mary Ann Ashley. “They want details. I don’t know that every business owner has been informed well enough. The sidewalks and all the other work could have a negative impact.”

Disruptions for Residents

Residents along the route, mainly on East Main, will face some disruptions, too.

“I just ask that the public be patient. I think the more they know in advance the more they’ll understand, but it’s going to be a challenge for all of us,” Ashley said.

The toughest part for commuters is likely to be in 2013, when for six weeks, the intersection of the road and the railroad is to be reconfigured and the road will be closed. It will also involve reconfiguring Jay Street and Railroad Avenue at the crossing. Planners are expecting to have to close Main Street completely at that spot during that time, the only significant time when all lanes of Main Street are expected to be impassable to traffic.

Another part of the project might also require driving around the section between College Street and Hillside Road, when the replacement of the sanitary sewer might take about five days.

Mintener says she’s hoping to set up a meeting in March to get an update from DOT –“a polite meeting, to get some answers,” she said.

“If you know what’s coming, you can plan for it, and be better off. Otherwise, there is anger and frustration.”

As it happens, the Watertown DOT office is working on a “frequently asked questions” (FAQ) document to be posted soon on the project web site at https://www.dot.ny.gov/portal/page/portal/regional-offices/region7/projects/cantonvillageproject.

It includes questions such as, “I have heard there will be a detour for this project. Where will that be?”, and answers, such as, “The detour route includes Riverside Drive, State Street and NYS Rt. 310.”

Well, not exactly: “We’re not calling it a detour,” said Canton Village Superintendent Brien Hallahan. “It’s a ‘preferred alternate.’ It’s a logical path. We won’t be forcing anyone.”

And local traffic will be permitted. Hallahan says at least one lane of Main Street will be open almost all the time.

In fact, the state will be repaving parts of the alternate before they start tearing up Main Street, so it can handle the traffic. And they will install temporary traffic signals at Riverside and State and at State and 310.

Mintener said she hopes some of the work can be done at night, “and get it over with ASAP.”

It seems that wish will be granted. At least some of the paving and lane marking is expected to be scheduled for nighttimes when traffic is light and the work can go much faster.

“It will be a challenge for everybody,” Mintener said. “Some people will find the bypasses, and some will say ‘Forget this – get me out of here.’” Deliveries from suppliers could be a challenge too, she said.

Hill said she thinks businesses will benefit from the improvements downtown, including new crosswalks, “and the trees won’t be dropping fruit on the sidewalks.”

She said many merchants will be able to use their back entrances while work proceeds, in some places right up to the front of their buildings. She said businesses are looking into signage to invite customers to the back doors.

“It will be beautiful when it’s done,” said Ashley, but while the work is in progress, “the time it takes to get through the village will be a major impact. People will have to plan their routes” to make the best of it.

But it will all be worth it, Ashley says. The infrastructure, at the surface and below it, is being improved, and “it needs to be a priority if we’re going to grow. We can’t with antiquated infrastructure.”