Orange County reopened Route 44 in Kiryas Yoel on Tuesday after a contractor finished blocking off a roadside walkway that the village built without permission last month.
The county closed that section of the road on Oct. 15 after discovering the temporary sidewalk and deciding that 500 feet of guardrail had been loosened by the work, posing a risk to both drivers and walkway pedestrians.
A contractor hired by the village has removed the guardrail and replaced it with concrete barriers to improve safety. Village officials say they plan to build a permanent sidewalk on the opposite side of the street.
County Executive Ed Diana vowed to fine Kiryas Yoel $1,000 a day and charge the village for the time county employees have spent on the matter.
As of Thursday morning, the Times Herald Record reports that Orange County has levied almost $17,800 in fines and charges against Kiryas Joel over the unauthorized sidewalk that caused Route 44 to be closed for nearly three weeks.
(Times Herald Record)
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4 Responses
no problom , Kiryas Joel will just vote as a block and get rid of those people.
Interesting how the record writes about ” a roadside walkway that the village built without permission last month ” but fails to mention that the roadside walkway was built on private property that is owned by the village.
The County undermined the safety of pedestrians by leaving such a heavily used County road without a sidewalk in the midst of an area that is heavily populated
what a story