Exit 20 traffic study pending, fly-in envisioned for Co. airport

QUEENSBURY — For decades, traffic backups on Rte. 9 near Northway Exit 20 — lined with outlet malls — has plagued motorists and compromised public safety. Warren County officials are now poised to take action towards easing the congestion. EDC Warren County President Ed Bartholomew told county supervisors Jan. 21 that his agency together with Warren County is moving forward on commissioning a traffic study to identify solutions for the traffic snarls along Rte. 9. He revealed at a county subcommittee meeting that National Grid had committed $50,000 towards such a study. Warren County and Bartholomew's agency have already committed $25,000 apiece. He said the first step — to be undertaken in the next several months — is to form a committee and seek out ideas for remedies from property and business owners along the Rte. 9 corridor as well as from area citizens. "We want a program that will improve traffic conditions and expedite emergency vehicles, while providing more for bicyclists and pedestrians, whose needs weren't addressed well in the prior study," Bartholomew said. Traffic studies focusing on the length of Rte. 9 between Exit 20 and Rte. 149 were conducted in 1993 and 2009. Both recommended constructing a connector road to Rte. 149 east of Rte. 9 extending behind the existing outlet malls. The latter study also explored the option of constructing up to three roundabouts in the half-mile stretch. Stony Creek top pick for broadband? In other business at the meeting, Bartholomew said that developing broadband access throughout the county remains a top priority in attracting new businesses and creating jobs. "Imagine locating your business in Warren County" is the new theme of a combined effort of economic development and tourism agencies in the county, he said, noting the effort to attract business executives and their families for the area's recreational amenities, and enticing them to conduct their business here. "If business owners come up here for a short stay and there's no cell service or broadband access, they won't come back, particularly if they have teenagers," he said. "There's a whole new generation we have to appeal to." Noting Gov. Cuomo's new pledge to commit $500 million to broadband access in rural and unserved areas as well as federal stipulations of a merger between cable companies that requires extending broadband to 144,000 upstate households, Bartholomew predicted that Stony Creek may be one of the first areas to benefit. Pilots may convene at co. airport Also, Bartholomew said that the county airport marketing committee and airport manager Ross Dubarry have been working to convince the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association to conduct a regional fly-in at the Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport. The organization's executives will be visiting Warren County in February or March, he said. The fly-in, which could be held in July, would feature hundreds of planes and likely involve thousands of visitors, Bartholomew said. "This would provide a healthy lift for our economy," he said, noting that the committee was also considering other events for the airport. Apex Solar — a growing enterprise In other business, Batholomew noted that Apex Solar, based in Queensbury and Glens Falls, was ranked by Solar Power World magazine as the No. 1 residential photovoltaic solar contractor in New York State and the top solar thermal installer in the state. "We are so pleased to see the success of one of newer industries," Bartholomew said, noting that Apex Solar now has 132 employees in the region. Bartholomew said Apex solicits residential, commercial and municipal customers directly as well as working on competitors' installations. "They have a unique business plan," he said, noting they pay good wages, and their lowest-wage job is $15 per hour. "It's a great organization and they really know what they're doing."

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Exit 20 traffic study pending, fly-in envisioned for Co. airport

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