After more than 12 years in the planning process, the Tillson, Avenue Intersection Improvement project in Lloyd will soon be receiving a green light. The project will lower the steepness of the grade of Tillson Avenue from 11.5% to 10% and the roadway will be moved so that it is directly across from Toc Drive. Both of these roads will have stop signs. Vineyard Avenue will be raised about 10 to 12 inches in the area of the intersection so that it is up higher from the Twaalfskill Creek and provide a smoother meeting with the new grade coming down Tillson Avenue.

Cost estimates for the project in total comes to about $3 million, paid for with 80% in federal funding, 15% from the state and 5% from the Town of Lloyd.

Tom Baird, Associate Engineer with Barton & Loguidice, has been guiding this process from the beginning and gave an update on the status of the project today.

“We have all of the property maps acquired and the property easements on Tillson Avenue secured and we’re waiting on the New York State Department of Transportation [DOT] to grant us authorization to advertise the project for a contractor,” he said. The state is conducting a historic review of a few of the homes on Tillson Avenue before giving the go ahead. It is expected this will be a minor issue.

Baird said in all they secured 21 easements on the south side of Tillson Avenue, with the lowest amount at $100 and a maximum of $15,000 for a total of $74,000. Funding for these easements came from the Federal Highway Administration, New York State DOT. Baird pointed out that obtaining the easements took some time and without any legal action because the town wanted to work with the residents to ensure their peace of mind instead of procuring property through condemnation. This also necessitated some design changes in the project.

“I just want to say that the town put a lot of effort into working with all of the property owners to work this out to be the least amount of impact and be the most beneficial to them,” he said.

Baird believes bid packages to contractors will go out in May, with construction starting in the late August. He expects the job to take 10 months to complete, including the winter.

Baird said the project initially got hung up over what would be the most appropriate design for the intersection.

“The design process had recommended a roundabout that best satisfied the project objective of safety, however Vineyard Avenue is a state highway and the roundabout option was not approved by the New York State DOT,” he said.

Baird said his company will provide oversight during construction, “so I will be with this one till the end.”

Baird has maintained a sense of humor through this project’s long gestation period.

“Since the project started my oldest son graduated from Middle School and now I have two grand-kids,” he laughed. “But when something’s right I don’t give up.”