The deck was stacked ten-to-one against proposed highway expansion projects along the Kensico Reservoir at a public hearing on in Armonk on Wednesday.

The projects would widen Route 120 in Harrison and North Castle and expand I-684 interchanges 2 and 3

The spirited crowd of 150-200 rallied against the $61.5 million plan, displaying signs such as "Highway Expansion Means More Traffic and Pollution" and "Where's the Congestion?"

The Natural Resources Defense Council's Eric Goldstein bluntly summarized the message project foes delivered to the state administration: "Note to Governor Pataki - your state transportation department is jeopardizing the downstate drinking water supply and endangering your environmental legacy." Goldstein said the organizations and officials assembled at the hearing were firm and united in their resolve to stop the road expansion.

At the end of 1997, Governor Pataki sent NYS DOT back to the drawing board regarding the project after it encountered stiff resistance (see MTR #'s 148, 155), but the changes DOT made are minimal from the perspective of the project's overall impact.

Much of the winding two-lane Route 120 passes directly adjacent to the Kensico Reservoir, the linchpin of the water system that supplies 1.3 gallons a day to New York City and Westchester County. Much of the environmental objection to the project stems from water pollution impacts. NRDC noted that environmental scientists universally recognize that expanding impervious roadway surface increases pollution runoff into nearby waters and removes natural buffers that capture contaminants.

But commentators also focused heavily on the project's strong potential to increase traffic and sprawl development. Indeed, State DOT documentation strong suggests the aim of the project is to transform a local road into a regional commuter expressway, and that it is intimately linked with large scale office construction plans in the watershed area.

Scenic Hudson's Jeff Anzevino challenged NYSDOT's outmoded and unsupportable assertion that development in the corridor is a phenomenon independent of roadway expansion, citing news reports that explicitly linked corporate-government negotiations to the road project. He outlined a number of safety, operational and transit improvements the state could undertake without expanding the highway itself.

Charles Komanoff, speaking on behalf of the Croton Watershed Clean Water Coalition, pointed out that the DOT's analysis omits any treatment of additional traffic that will be induced by the initial time savings offered by a wider highway and by likely development in the corridor. Federal highway officials are increasingly adopting methods to account for these factors, and thus are able to develop more realistic (and modest) estimates of the likely traffic flow effects of highway expansions like NYS DOT Route 120 project.

North Castle officials and representatives of the construction industry and the corporate parks along Route 120 spoke in favor of the project.

State Assembly Environmental Committee Chair Richard Brodsky said the DOT's draft environmental statement "cannot sustain a decision to go forward." He said data in the document was outdated and failed to acknowledge the road's relationship with development. Assembly member Naomi Matusow also hoped the project could be changed to better accommodate environmental concerns.

State legislators may in fact be in a strong position to stop or influence the project. The State DOT will seek to finance the project in its next 5-year capital plan, which the NY Legislature will have to take up and approve early next year. The financing scheme DOT lays out for the project in NY Metropolitan Transportation Council documents includes about $15.5 million in NY State transportation capital funds.

Few who spoke against the Route 120 widening opposed the I-684 interchange improvements. All favored stormwater management system for I-684.

Others attending to contest the project included staff for Rep. Nita Lowey, Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer and NYC Comptroller Alan Hevesi, and Harrison Councilwoman Elizabeth Pritchard, who said the project provides "economic benefit to few and environmental detriment to many."

Comments will be accepted until November 8th. Address them to Joseph Foglietta, NYSDOT Region 8, 4 Burnett Boulevard, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603.