Plattsburgh council set to vote on Margaret St. makeover

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (WCAX) - The Plattsburgh Common Council Thursday is expected to vote on whether to spend $12 million on a major downtown revitalization project. The proposal, which has been in the works for over two years, would give Margaret Street a major makeover, but some businesses remain wary of the potential impacts.

“It’s going to be a big project, probably one of the biggest projects the city of Plattsburgh has seen in quite some time,” said Plattsburgh Mayor Chris Rosenquest.

The current plans would add more space on the street and sidewalks as well as more parking and a bike lane. The mayor says the city will also be able to make much-needed infrastructure repairs under the asphalt.

“We can no longer continue to defer maintenance on bigger infrastructure projects like this. We’ve seen a number of water main breaks along Margaret Street because of the 1903 infrastructure and now is the time to take action to fix it,” he said. The project would also return the street to one-way traffic, something the city tried to do back in the 1990s.

The street in the heart of downtown is home to local shops, restaurants, bars, and boutiques. Wendy Baker, the owner of the Cornerstone Bookshop, is among those businesses that continue to have questions about the construction disruption. “How will delivery trucks get down Margaret Street, how will our patrons be able to access temporary walkways, what will the parking situation look like?” she said. Baker agrees that the infrastructure work is important but hopes the city will communicate a plan with business owners to minimize potential impacts. “That’s going to be important to make sure that we can withstand anything that’s coming in the face of this project.”

With a ‘yes’ vote at Thursday’s council meeting, Rosenquest says water and sewer work could begin this spring. He hopes to have the project complete by the fall of 2024.

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