Plattsburgh wants your input on Margaret Street makeover

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (WCAX) - The city of Plattsburgh is getting ready for a makeover on Margaret Street and you can give your input on the plans.

“The Margaret Street project is going to be done because of the aging utilities,” said Kelli McArdell, a project engineer with C&S Companies.

The city teamed up with the firm C&S Companies to redesign and redevelop some of the main streets in downtown Plattsburgh. The first project will heavily focus on Margaret Street.

“Beneath Margaret Street, we have utilities that look just like this right now, due to their aging, they are deteriorating,” McArdell said.

While work is being done under the asphalt, the city sees this as the perfect time to address what’s above.

C & S Companies says it did a study on turning a portion of Margaret Street into a pedestrian mall like Church Street in Burlington but the study showed it would not be feasible.

It sent out a public survey and got 800 responses back from community members and city businesses.

“Building to building it’s 65 feet wide,” McArdell said.

The survey showed top priorities were wider travel lanes, wider sidewalks, parking and bike travel.

McArdell says if they were to include everything in the survey, they would need 90 feet total, but only have 65 feet so they came up with three alternative plans.

“Option one is to remain Margaret Street as a two-way,” McArdell said.

The travel lanes would be opened up to 12 feet versus the less than 10 feet they are now. Parking would continue along both sides of travel lanes but there would be no designated bike lanes,

sidewalks would see a give and take of space.

The second plan is also a two-way. The travel lanes would jump to 15 feet “Shared-Use” lanes for vehicles and bikes, and sidewalks would expand between 16-19 feet wide.

“But this option, because those lanes are wider, we lose that one street parking,” McArdell explained.

The third plan calls for Margaret Street to be converted into a one-way street. The street traffic would flow south. The one-way design would allow for both sides of the lane to have on-street parking, wider sidewalks and 15-foot “Shared-Use” lanes.

The city wants to hear from you on which of the three design options would suit the city best. There is an online survey for your input open until March 23. The final plans will be released in April with construction set to start in May 2023.

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