KEY TO THE HIGHWAY
Wal-Mart's proposals for Route 54 critical for project's approval
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

FILE PHOTO Pictured above, reconfiguring the intersection of county Route 113 with state Route 54 is likely to be a critical issue in securing state approval for the construction of a Wal-Mart supercenter.

BATH - Big changes are in store for the Bath area if the Wal-Mart corporation opens a new supercenter on state Route 54, the main corridor between the Villages of Bath and Hammondsport.

Of all those changes - altered storm drainage, shifts in shopping habits - the most obvious is likely to be a reconfiguration of Route 54 in the immediate area of the development.

The design of that reconfiguration is a critical component of an environmental impact study currently underway. "This is the most integral component of the EIS," said engineer Dennis Fagan, of Fagan Engineers, in a recent interview. "We all realize traffic is a major impact at the potential site."

Wal-Mart has predicted a surge in local traffic as a result of the store's operations. At the same time the corporation has proposed accessing the development directly from Route 54 about 50 yards north of the state highway's intersection with county Route 113.

Route 54 has only two lanes where the corporation has proposed accessing the highway, and Fagan noted the new access would create two intersections with traffic signals a short distance from each other.

"DOT (the New York Department of Transportation) is concerned about that and wants to make sure the impact to the traffic patterns is mitigated," said Fagan, who is assisting the Bath town Planning Board in its role as lead agent for the environmental impact review.

To date, there is no formal proposal for a widening of Route 54, and a DOT official, who asked not to be identified, said there is not yet enough data for state officials to decide whether additional lanes are needed.

However, the DOT has proposed two scenarios for Wal- Mart to explore as it puts together a preliminary, or draft, environmental impact study.They are:

• Extending county Route 113 across Route 54 at its current intersection with the state highway. Wal-Mart would then access the extended county highway, and shoppers would enter the development from the extended road, west of Route 54.

• Rebuilding county Route 113 so that it intersects Route 54 further north. The intersection would be four-way and provide direct access to the Wal- Mart driveway.

Both scenarios have the advantage of eliminating the double intersection that is part of Wal-Mart's original site design. They also would employ county Route 113 as a principal route into the Wal-Mart development, perhaps relieving some of the traffic impact on state Route 54.

Either way, DOT's approval of Wal-Mart's proposal is critical to the overall project. "DOT has permitting authority," Fagan noted. "The applicant can't access Route 54 without a permit from DOT."

Fagan added any adjustments to the Route 54 corridor would have to be done at Wal- Mart's expense. The corporation is also responsible for putting together a traffic study that is acceptable to the state agency.

That could take a while.Fagan speculated Wal- Mart may submit a draft environmental impact study by the end of 2007. As lead agent, the Bath town Planning Board would receive the plan, then coordinate its review with public offices including DOT - "in the early part of next year," Fagan said.