The Main Street detour is expected to begin on Monday, April 11, according to Department of Public Works Superintendent Brad Hathaway.

Construction isn’t scheduled to begin until April 18, but the detours are beginning early so the village can establish the new traffic pattern in advance.

Construction is expected to finish by next winter, though Hathaway said there’s a possibility of another construction project on Main Street after that.

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The detour

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One-way traffic on Main Street will flow north, but instead of starting at the large parking lot near the post office like it did last year, one-way traffic will begin at the junction of state routes 73 and 86, at the top of Mill Hill by the Sunoco gas station.

For southbound drivers who want to reach Main Street via Olympic Drive, the detour will start at the intersection of Hillcrest and Saranac avenues. Hillcrest Avenue will maintain two-way traffic throughout construction. Motorists will be required to take a left on Main Street at the bottom of Olympic Drive hill, at the Lake Placid Conference Center. Then they can turn right on Parkside Drive near the post office. Starting on April 11, Parkside Drive will be a one-way street, going southbound from the post office, past Mirror Lake Drive, all the way to Morningside Drive, for the duration of the spring construction period.

Large delivery trucks driving south will have to take a detour starting at Old Military Road or Wesvalley Road, Hathaway said.

The detour is expected to last from April 11 through June. There won’t be a detour or construction during July and August, according to Hathaway. A mandatory pause in construction during the peak summer months was built into the project construction project. When construction resumes this fall, Hathaway said the detour likely won’t return. He said that depends on how construction goes this spring, which largely depends on the weather.

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The work

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Sidewalk construction on the lake side of Main Street is expected to begin in sections on April 18, weather permitting. Hathaway said the first section will start around Mid’s Park and end near NBT Bank. He said construction crews hope to be done with that section by May 25. Crews would start on the section from NBT Bank down to the Sugar Shack Dessert Company on April 28, he said.

Sidewalks on the hill side of Main Street aren’t scheduled for construction until the fall, so people can still use that sidewalk while work is being done on the sidewalks closer to the lake.

The village recently approved a change order for the Main Street construction project that added a new water main from the Olympic Center to the intersection of routes 73 and 86. That project is expected to begin on April 18 and last through the end of June.

Hathaway said construction crews expect to work on drainage on Olympic Drive from April 26 to around the second week of May.

The main parking lot, across the street from the post office, is expected to be finished in May and June with new green areas and a sidewalk. Benches and planters are also expected to be installed at Brewster Park this spring.

Hathaway said that as sidewalks are finished along Main Street, the village plans to install benches and place planters on the new sidewalk bump outs. The village originally designed the bump outs with in-ground plantings, but that has changed since last year. The new design shows self-watering planters that are 3 feet tall, and Hathaway said they will sit on top of a rough-cut granite cobblestone.

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Construction in 2023?

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Hathaway mentioned that there’s been talk about reconstructing some drainage, road surfaces and sidewalks from the Olympic Center down the southern part of Main Street. He said that’s an ongoing conversation the village is having with the state. Main Street is part of Route 86, which is a state road.

Village Mayor Art Devlin said that the state hasn’t approved the project, but if it did, he said the village might get the work done “quickly” next spring. He thought the project wouldn’t require digging up the road as much as other portions of Main Street.

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Saranac Avenue light

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Hathaway said that the town and village are trying to make the temporary traffic light at the intersection of Saranac Avenue and Wesvalley Road permanent. A lot of people in the community want the light, he said, adding that Devlin and North Elba town Supervisor Derek Doty have talked with many community members about it. He said the village has wanted a light there for some time.

Village officials requested a temporary traffic light from the state at the beginning of the Main Street construction process to alleviate any increased traffic on Wesvalley, though Hathaway said state officials didn’t require one. The state was later asked to make the light permanent, and Hathaway said the state performed a traffic study last year to assess the need for a light there. He said the study didn’t show enough traffic to warrant the light, but the village is still trying to get one there.

If the light were made permanent, Hathaway said it would be a red light that’s triggered by traffic; the light wouldn’t turn red for people driving on Saranac Avenue until someone pulled up to the light from Wesvalley. He said there’s a similar light at the corner of McKinley and Main streets, next to Mr. Mike’s Pizza.

For now, the temporary light on Saranac Avenue is expected to remain through this year’s construction.