Michael D'Onofrio

mcdonofrio@lohud.com

MONSEY - A developer is calling on the state to overhaul a notorious traffic bottleneck on Route 59 into a modern roadway capable of handling the hamlet's growing community — upgrades he would stand to gain much from.

Joseph Brachfeld of Wesley Hills, owner of the Town Square shopping center, has funded a blueprint for infrastructure improvements along more than a half-mile stretch of Route 59, which includes adding lanes, sidewalks, landscaped medians, and a walking and biking path.

"This is definitely part of the vision to make 59 into the gateway of Monsey," Brachfeld said this week. "When you're driving into Monsey right now, you see a road that was built for 40 years ago ... not designed for what the reality is today on the ground."

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Any infrastructure upgrades would be paid for by the state. The nascent plan has yet to be officially proposed to Ramapo or the state Department of Transportation.

Ryan Karben, a spokesperson for Brachfeld, said there were no cost estimates for the project.

Karben added that any plan to modernize Route 59 would require private landowners to allow improvements to encroach on their property. Brachfeld also offered approximately 1,300 feet of his property along Route 59 to be used for the upgrades.

But Brachfeld has been busy recently pushing another development that would stand to greatly benefit from the improvements.

The Ramapo developer was behind a proposal to place a 600-unit housing complex at the site of the old Rockland Drive-In Theatre on Route 59. Brachfeld has also called on Ramapo to allow the formation of a Business Improvement District.

"The improved (Route) 59 would be beneficial to everybody, whether it's the tenants, landlords, commuters," Brachfeld said. "There's nobody that wouldn't benefit from this initiative."

The plan

Route 59 in Monsey is well-known for traffic slowdowns, a problem that also afflicts other portions of the major east-west artery running through the county.

In Monsey as well as Spring Valley, that stretch of Route 59 narrows to a single lane of traffic in both directions with a middle turning lane.

The plan would revitalize Route 59, a state road, from Kennedy Drive in Spring Valley through Monsey past Route 306. Brachfeld has launched a marketing campaign complete with a website and renderings of the proposal, and has received the endorsement of some officials and labor leaders.

To alleviate traffic from bottlenecking, the plan proposes:

Adding a lane of traffic in each direction on Route 59 from Kennedy Drive past Route 306

Adding an additional lane on Route 306 near the intersection with Route 59

Synchronizing traffic lights

Adding sidewalks and more crosswalks

Using landscaping barriers as medians to prevent pedestrians from crossing outside of crosswalks

At the intersection of Route 59 and Robert Pitt Drive, which leads to the Town Square, the plan also calls for:

Dedicating a car-sharing area — for taxis and ride-sharing services — in the Town Square parking lot

Adding a new bus stop area off of Route 59, so buses do not stop in a traffic lane

A major element of the plan proposes converting the old Route 59 bypass into a bike and walking trail and adding a park-and-ride for commuters.

The trail would be sandwiched between a corridor of transmission wires and residential homes, which is located off Saddle River Road, and run through Monsey Glen County Park and behind the former drive-in theater

In the renderings for the plan, the former drive-in theater is marked as an open parcel of land, and there is no mention of Brachfeld's proposal for a housing complex there.

Although the project names the state as owning the bypass, DOT spokesperson Gina DiSarro could not immediately confirm whether the department was indeed the owner. DiSarro added that the DOT was not not aware of this specific proposal.

Ramapo Councilman Patrick Withers said Route 59 in the area was "a real mess" and any infrastructure upgrades would be a "major undertaking."

But Withers said any improvements needed to be in line with the Lower Hudson Transit Link bus rapid transit service, or BRT, which is scheduled to open next year with the completion of the new Tappan Zee Bridge.

The BRT system already requires significant improvements along Route 59 to accommodate the buses, possibly double-decker buses, and many of the upgrades had yet to be completed, he said.

"We all have to be in sync to ensure there’s smart planning going on, and the New York State DOT and local municipalities are all on board with the BRT system that’s rolling out in 2018," Withers said.

'Fridays, it's crazy'

Joe Knop of Monsey, who was shopping with his wife earlier this week, said the roadway’s traffic congestion can get frustrating, and the area was in need of infrastructure revitalization.

“Sometimes a stretch that takes you 30 seconds at night takes 15 or 20 minutes” during the busy times, he said.

On a recent weekday morning with snow piled on the ground, pedestrians near the Town Square could be seen shunning the few sidewalks available and instead walking on the shoulders of Route 59, where traffic can travel up to 40 mph.

Although there are crosswalks on Route 59, many people — including those with children and pushing baby strollers — seemed to prefer hustling across the busy road at random points.

Robin Grosser of New City said the “major roadway” needed to be re-imagined.

“I just think it would help with the access to the other side streets,” said Grosser, who had just come out of the Evergreen supermarket.

Grosser added that she avoids the Town Square leading up to the Jewish Sabbath on Friday evenings and any holidays when traffic is the heaviest.

It was a sentiment Saul Stern of Suffern related to.

“Fridays, it's crazy. It’s very congested. I don’t shop here on Friday usually, so I keep away on Friday,” Stern said as he was heading into the supermarket.

Michael Tauber of Monsey, who has been the manager of the Monsey Mall since 1999, said as the week progresses, so does the traffic. Traffic on Thursdays and Fridays can be a “disaster," he said.

Although traffic can be good for business, Tauber said it can also be a disincentive.

“It turns people away too,” Tauber said about the traffic. “Some people don’t want to get stuck in traffic. If 59 is widened the way it should be, the way it's widened in Nanuet, it will have definitely a positive effect."

Twitter: @mikedonofrio_