Village of Sloatsburg representatives sat down with the NYDOT Tuesday to discuss traffic calming and other related Route 17 issues.

A meeting months in the making took place Tuesday afternoon at Village Hall. Most everything Route 17 was discussed, including that hump in the road in the north village.

Acting NYDOT Regional Director Todd Westhuis (left), NYDOT Assistant Commissioner Thomas McIntyre (center), DOT Engineer Joe Hurley, and Annmarie McAnany (right), manager of the Sloatsburg Public Library.

What started out as casual conversation and complaints about the tired topic of Route 17 traffic came together Tuesday afternoon in a presentation to top level New York Department of Transportation officials and Sloatsburg trustees, Mayor Carl Wright and members of the newly reconstituted Sloatsburg Revitalization Committee.

Acting Regional Director for Westchester and Rockland Counties Todd B. Westhuis was joined by NYDOT Assistant Commissioner Thomas L. McIntyre and DOT Engineer Joe Hurley. NY State Senator David Carlucci’s office advocated for Sloatsburg village center traffic calming all the way to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office — the result was Tuesday’s meeting.

The context of the Sloatsburg/DOT conversation was a proposed crosswalk and slow zone at 1 Liberty Rock Road at the Sloatsburg Public Library. Acting on behalf of a diverse group of Sloatsburgers, the editor of SloatsburgVillage.com pushed the crosswalk proposal to Senator Carlucci’s office nearly a year ago.

William “Teeter Bill” Conklin directing traffic along Route 17 for the Sloatsburg Police Department in 1949, before the NY Thruway was built and Route 17 widened.

The Senator’s office pursued the issue with the DOT, with District Representative for the New City office Patrick Sheehan providing essential assistance in bringing the village and DOT together for a Route 17 crosswalk and traffic calming meeting.

Members of the SRC, including Kathy Goldman and Annmarie McAnany (who also manages the Sloatsburg Library) were instrumental in putting together a number issues related to the proposal.

Route 17 at the Sloatsburg Public Library.

There was also the topic of a particular significant Route 17 hump. Two Trustees brought up the issue of the bump along Route 17 in the northern part of the village. Peter Akey and John Bonkoski came back to the issue several times for DOT input and Regional Director Westhuis nodded in understanding and agreement about the need to resolve that particular jarring local problem, as his contingent experienced the road hiccup first-hand as they entered the village.

Westhuis said the DOT would be meeting with contractors on that topic very soon.

Westhuis was also enthused about Sloatsburg’s overall traffic calming proposal, which covered everything from possible area development to narrowing the road through the village to creating signalized crosswalks, roadway signage, and other measures that might produce a more pedestrian-friendly and walkable center village.

My office will continue to work with @NYSDOT, @SloatPubLibrary and my partners in gov’t in @Sloatsburgny to find a solution to this issue.

— David Carlucci (@davidcarlucci) March 2, 2016

Many of the broader Route 17 issues, such as center islands or road narrowing, would take grant money and other funding to initiate and are a long way off. But Westhuis and company experienced up close the traffic flow through Sloatsburg and all agreed there were significant and immediate measures the DOT could pursue to begin to regulate traffic, beginning with a pedestrian triggered light and crosswalk at the Municipal Plaza traffic light.

The DOT also strongly advocated working with the village on qualifying for money from the Transportation Enhancement Program while reviewing other local traffic calming measures. Westhuis also said a meeting with law enforcement officials — in this case, the Town of Ramapo Police Department — was warranted to help modify traffic flow.

The meeting appeared to nurture a much-needed working partnership between Sloatsburg and the DOT, who share a stake in the condition of New York’s oldest highway.