From left Lakewood Village Trustee John Shedd, Trustee Ben Troche, Mayor Randy Holcomb, and Trustee Ellen Barnes discuss matters Monday. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

LAKEWOOD – The Lakewood Village Board of Trustees is not supporting the proposed Route 394 (Fairmount Avenue) Sidewalk Extension Project.

Instead trustees want the New York State Department of Transportation to consider a new design.

Trustees approved a resolution Monday denouncing the design that was presented Sept. 26 at an informal meeting at the Busti Town Hall, 125 Chautauqua Ave., to hear about preliminary concepts that are being explored by the DOT.

About 40 residents attended the September meeting.

The proposed design negatively affects property owners and substantially affects their landscaping, Trustee Ellen Barnes said.

“On Dec. 11, 2023, the village of Lakewood Board of Trustees was presented with a resolution to support the New York State Department of Transportation’s sidewalk installation project on the north and south sides of Fairmount Ave, and the grant application for funding the project,” Barnes said to nine Fairmount Avenue residents in attendance.

Barnes noted that because of lack of support, public input, and that the grant funding was denied, trustees are not in support of the project as originally designed and they rescinded the Dec. 11, 2023, resolution.

“Also, by this (new) resolution, the Lakewood Board of Trustees supports the New York State Department of Transportation to consider a new design for board approval for a sidewalk/walkway project on the north side of West Fairmount Avenue,” Barnes added.

Trustee Ben Troche said that he is hoping the DOT will listen to recommendations by the board, and by affected property owners. He also said that he sees the current resolution as the beginning of communication between the board and the DOT.

“There’s a lot of issues with the current design and problems to the directly-affected property owners. And I hope that they (the DOT) do come to us for approval, because they don’t need our approval. They keep us in the dark quite a bit, because it’s not our project,” Troche said.

Barnes added that the decision to put sidewalks on Fairmount Avenue is about 35 years too late, and sidewalks should have been added in the 1990s when Fairmount Avenue underwent a change.

“We don’t need the disruption again – the taking down of grown trees that have been growing for 30 years – and the buffer zone between the residents and the street,” Barnes said

Mayor Randy Holcomb has been in contact with the DOT and he said he has asked if the DOT goes through with the project, if it could be stopped on the north side, at the railroad viaduct. During his communications with the DOT, they advised him of other considerations.

Troche noted that in December 2023, the board did not receive information about the project in a timely manner.

“I want to clarify too, that there’s a lot of hearsay that they (the DOT) came to us for approval, and that’s not how that worked,” Troche said.

Troche said the board did not approve the project, rather it approved the DOT applying for grant money for the project.

Barnes said she wants a meeting with DOT officials, so she can relay comments and thoughts on the project.

“What we’re trying to do is keep an open dialog with them (the DOT), so we can be informed of what they’re planning on doing,” Trustee Nancy Barnes said.