Don Berger, a resident of the Village of Montgomery, recently set out on a mission spanning Northern Orange County: to unify five municipalities, their county government, and their state representatives, who would all work together to leverage funding from New York State for road infrastructure and safety.

During the Village of Montgomery’s January 17 meeting, Berger stressed that the board should conduct a comprehensive traffic study, referencing tractor-trailer accidents and routings to support his case. He asserted that he would visit neighboring municipalities and present the same concerns during their respective meetings, in hopes that these boards conspire to fund a traffic study.

“For years, I’ve come before this board, I’ve come before the town boards, planning boards, the whole nine yards,” he said on January 17. “I have asked for a comprehensive traffic study which no one is ever willing to do. I don’t understand why we’re not willing to do something like that.”

“I truly believe we have to do a study, even if it takes the Village of Montgomery to chip in a little bit and all three villages to chip in a little bit, and the town to chip in a little bit,” he continued. “We have an assemblyman that comes from our district, maybe he could chip in a little bit with state money.”

Since then, Berger has visited and shared his comments with the towns of Montgomery, Crawford, Wallkill, and Newburgh, with New Windsor being his remaining target. In addition to traffic safety, Berger raised concerns about road conditions for Routes 208, 17K, and 211, stressing how dilapidated they became due to usage, weather, and neglect.

“My belief is that there is no road repaving cycle, to do it every few years. It’s a combination of everything, including weather and tractor-trailer traffic,” Berger said in a recent interview. “We have had an immense increase in any type of traffic, whether it’s tractor-trailer or just regular vehicles. And quite frankly, we haven’t had these roads repaired in years.”

Berger explained that one municipality does not have enough power to lobby for funding from the New York State Department of Transportation, using the Town of Montgomery as an example. However, if officials from the aforementioned towns join forces and create a plan with their county and state representatives, they have a much better chance of attracting the state’s attention during the legislative sessions in Albany. He specified that said representatives would include Assemblyman Brian Maher, Senator James Skoufis, and Senator Rob Rolison.

“For the past few years, the Town of Montgomery would go to the New York State Department of Transportation. They just have no power with that,” Berger said recently. “So if we sit down with the five municipalities with our two state senators, our assemblymen and women, the Orange County planner, and somebody from the county office of Steve Neuhaus, we have a stronger bid to talk with and get more funding.”

Currently, Berger has received positive feedback for the plan from the four towns he visited so far. Steve Brescia, Montgomery’s Supervisor, said at the town’s last meeting that he recently heard from Walkill Supervisor Geroge Serrano and Newburgh Supervisor Gil Piaquadio and that he would be open to arranging a meeting with them and others.

“I don’t know if I’m going to take the lead, but I can certainly try to set up a meeting. Supervisor Piaquadio did talk to me, and Supervisor Serrano spoke to me at the Associations of Towns,” Brescia said during the town’s February 21 meeting. “I will have a conversation with Steve Bedetti, Charlie, Gil, and George, and we could probably have a meeting and definitely talk about the allocation of funds for our area.”

Berger also noted that, before visiting Crawford during its February meeting, Supervisor Charles Carnes already reached out to him about his issues with Route 52’s conditions and showed interest in joining the cause.

“I was surprised that Charlie did get a hold of me about this because you guys don’t have the same problems as we do on the other side from our governing bodies,” Berger said to Crawford’s board at its February 22 meeting. “But he did talk to me about the conditions of Route 52 and the lack of help he’s getting from the New York State DOT. Hence, he wants to be involved.”