Community News

Mayor Billy Barlow announced today the re-opening of State Route 48 in the City of Oswego.

In February of 2016, State Route 48 suffered damage from a major road collapse near the Route 48 and Munn Street intersection.  The road was temporarily closed but re-opened as a one way only, Southbound street for the summer of 2016.  The road has been closed since the middle of August when construction on the approximately $1.7 million project started. The project has been completed and Route 48 is set to open slightly ahead of schedule as the initial timeline indicated a completion date of December 1st.

“I’m thrilled to get this project done ahead of schedule and finally be able to safely open the road to vehicular traffic again”, said Mayor Billy Barlow. “I appreciate the patience of the residents in that area and the motorists who regularly use that route in and out of town. The detour was lengthy and extremely inconvenient but through negotiations we were able to save the City of Oswego roughly $1.5 million by deciding to wait to receive funding from the Federal and State government. I applaud the New York State Department of Transportation and Director of Planning and Management Mark Frechette for helping the City of Oswego secure funding for this project and the significant amount of assistance they provided us throughout this entire project. We worked hard to mitigate the effects and inconveniences caused by this unexpected road collapsed and I appreciate the cooperation of all those involved in this project, including the Oswego Country Club”, Barlow continued.

Initially, the repair and reconstruction of State Route 48 may have been the responsibility of the City of Oswego because although Route 48 is a State road, the collapse was within the City of Oswego limits. However, Mayor Billy Barlow and the City of Oswego worked with the New York State Department of Transportation to secure funding to help pay for 95% of the total project cost but re-construction would have to wait until the Fall of 2017 for funding to be made available and the project to be scheduled.

Seventh Ward Councilor Robert Corradino thanked the seventh ward residents in the City of Oswego specifically as they dealt with increased traffic due to the detour from the road collapse. “I very much appreciate the patience of the seventh ward residents throughout this lengthy project. We experienced more vehicles and larger vehicles through our neighborhoods and the residents overall were very understanding. We are pleased to see this project completed and I applaud all those involved in making this project happen and saving the City a considerable amount of money while doing so”, he said.

State Route 48 opened at 1pm Monday November 20th with Mayor Billy Barlow, Seventh Ward Councilor Robert Corradino and NYSDOT personnel.