Catskill marked the formal end of its Main Street reconstruction with a ribbon-cutting this week, alongside a First Friday Fall Festival intended to support businesses affected by the work. The project replaced water and sewer lines, added a sidewalk and repaved the street, according to NEWS10 ABC. Village President Natasha Law said the village combined three infrastructure jobs to avoid repeated rounds of excavation and closures.
The figures differ across accounts
The construction timeline is not reported consistently. NEWS10 described work lasting nearly a year and a half, while Law put it at 16 months. The Daily Gazette reported sporadic parking restrictions and sidewalk closures over 17 months, and said work began in June 2025. The accounts establish a prolonged disruption, but do not give one agreed duration.
Reported costs also vary. NEWS10 put the construction cost at $7 million, funded by grants. In a September report, CBS6 Albany reported a $7.6 million figure from Law for the Main Street portion. The available accounts do not reconcile the figures or clarify whether they describe the same project components.
The ribbon-cutting closes out the main construction, but some streetscape work was still expected. Law said streetlights and bike racks were due to begin the following week and that the village planned to plant 50 trees. CBS6 had reported a plan for 49 trees in September, so the final count remains unclear. CBS6 also reported that more than 70% of the new sidewalks were complete by late September, within a broader plan to replace about 85% of the village’s sidewalks and curbing.
Access during construction mattered to shops
Businesses described practical obstacles during the work, including reduced foot traffic, limited parking and difficulty making deliveries. NEWS10 reported that Salad Bar owner John Jimenez said closures hurt his delivery business. The Daily Gazette reported that the village board held a special meeting in August to hear complaints about access. Those accounts document business owners’ concerns, but do not quantify lost sales.
Catskill’s experience fits a challenge noted in broader research, though that research cannot establish the project’s specific effects. In a review of access-management projects, the Federal Highway Administration reported that business owners often found the actual effects less severe than they had anticipated, and that most adverse effects were temporary and tied to construction rather than lasting changes in accessibility. This general finding does not negate the difficulties Catskill businesses reported.
The agency’s work-zone guidance says well-planned public outreach can help reduce travel impacts by alerting drivers to upcoming work and providing information before and during trips, according to the Federal Highway Administration. That guidance does not establish what outreach Catskill used. For the village, the immediate next test is how the rebuilt street and remaining amenities serve businesses and visitors after construction disruptions end.
