On Wednesday March 9, 2022, the City of Plattsburgh held a second public information session on the reconstruction of Margaret, Brinkerhoff and Court Streets. The meeting was held both virtually and in person at the Plattsburgh Public Library. The design firm working on the project, C&S Companies, shared results from the first public information survey and detailed three options for reconstructing the street; the first option being a two way street with parking on both sides (similar to the street’s current configuration), the second being a two way street with no parking and shared use travel lanes for both bicycles and automobiles in each direction, and the final option being a conversion of Margaret St. to a one-way street with parking on both side and a single, shared use travel lane.
While several survey respondents advocated for the conversion of a portion of Margaret Street into a pedestrian mall with no travel or parking lanes, that option was deemed infeasible due to various design and engineering considerations including the proposed mall’s effects on traffic routing, deliveries to local business, on-street parking capacity, and the prevention of direct access to businesses and residences. The benefits of such a pedestrian mall to a small segment of the community were far outweighed by the substantial inconveniences it would cause to a much broader segment of the population.
After the second public meeting concluded, a new survey was officially launched which seeks to gather input on which of the three options the public would most prefer when rebuilding Margaret Street.
The survey can be found at https://arcg.is/10qq00.The survey closes on March 23, 2022.
Regardless of which of the three street configuration options is chosen, the project will include the replacement of the aging and outdated underground infrastructure under Margaret Street. The installation of additional landscaping features, updated signage, and accessibility improvements will also be part of the project.
Visit https://www.cityofplattsburgh-ny.gov/margaretstreet for full details on the project.
**Edited on 03/18/2022 @ 3:38PM. Corrected an error: Changed sentence "a portion of Durkee Street" to "a portion of Margaret Street".
