Concerns mount over hazardous highway in Bedford Hills

State Sen. Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Chris Burdick and stepped up pressure on the Department of Transportation to repave a deteriorating stretch of Route 117 in Bedford Hills.

Harckham, Burdick call out DOT on Route 117 repaving

By MARTIN WILBUR

A deteriorated stretch of Route 117 in Bedford prompted state Sen. Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Chris Burdick to publicize a recent letter they sent to the New York State Department of Transportation urging for road improvements.

In their Oct. 27 correspondence, the legislators called on DOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez to take immediate action and fully fund the repaving of the state thoroughfare from the Bedford Hills fire station to Harris Road to make the surface safer. They made the request public Nov. 13.

“The current condition of this section of Route 117 has become not just an issue of inconvenience, but of safety and public welfare,” the lawmakers’ letter stated. “Vehicles are subject to sustaining thousands of dollars in damage due to rough pavement and deep potholes, which can no longer be addressed by patching.”

In addition to motorists that frequently use that portion of Route 117, Burdick said that the Katonah Bedford Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps had sent them a letter citing “significant concern” about ambulances rushing to calls over that surface. In recent years, Route 35 was also repaved after local officials were able to demonstrate that poor road condition contributed to an accident, he said.

“The condition of the road makes it very difficult to stay in their lane, and so it can create a significant hazard if it turns out they end up inadvertently going into the opposing lane of traffic,” Burdick said.

What was once an inconvenience is now an issue of public safety, Harckham added in a statement. There are potholes, crumbling pavement and uneven asphalt that is damaging cars, slowing emergency response times and exposing drivers to risk, he said.

Bedford Supervisor Ellen Calves said the appeal to DOT to repave the roadway in that location was last made in 2023, when police and fire departments worried about its condition and safety. Many residents have also been distressed that that portion of Route 117, a key entrance to the Bedford Hills hamlet, has been continually patched up creating unsafe and unsightly conditions but not repaved.

Despite being told recently by the DOT that there are no current plans to rehabilitate the road, Calves said it’s necessary to keep pressure on the agency and Gov. Kathy Hochul to have money included in the next fiscal year’s budget to fix the road. The governor typically proposes a budget in January with the next fiscal year starting April 1.

“It all comes down to the budget and I think the governor needs to make sure that in her 2026 budget there’s money for that road,” Calves said. “It’s not miles and miles and miles. It’s probably a mile of road that needs to get done.”

Another option for funding is for the governor’s office to authorize DOT and provide the money to do the project, Burdick said. Late last month Hochul’s office announced that $8 million was to be appropriated for the repaving of Route 133 in Ossining and New Castle, and Route 100B in Greenburgh, he said.

Burdick said those upcoming projects, due to start next year, and the already completed repaving on Route 35 and Route 9A repaving should have no bearing on what the state decides to do with Route 117. The DOT evaluates which projects are done based on need and available money.

“It’s hard to gauge that. I think that we’ve been very pleased with the regional office of DOT and their dispassionate considerations of requests like this,” Burdick said.

What about Mount Kisco?

Although nearby municipalities have seen or will be seeing improvements in state roads in their communities, Mayor J. Michael Cindrich said repeated requests for repaving within the village have gone unanswered on Route 117 and Route 133. Cindrich said the appeals have been made dating back to his previous tenure as mayor, which ended in 2017.

Village Manager Ed Brancati said Route 117 from Moore Avenue up to Barker Street and Route 133 from Route 117 to the New Castle line are the most pressing concerns. The recently approved repaving on Route 133 will stop at the Mount Kisco-New Castle border.

Con Edison resurfaced Route 117 from Bedford Hills south to Barker when they were doing work in the area a couple of years ago, Brancati said. The village last month resurfaced the intersection of Maple and Kisco avenues as part of a water main project.

There will be a reconfiguration of Route 117 and Route 133 to remove the slip lane and improve pedestrian safety next year, along with minor improvements scheduled for Route 117 at Barker Street and at Preston Way, Brancati said.

“Those improvements will lead to the resurfacing of these intersections, obviously,” he said. “Will they take that then as the opportunity to do at least that section of Route 117? I hope so.”