The $14 million Route 104 improvement project gets started

The $14 million project to improve about four miles of Route 104 in western Oswego County is underway.

The work will happen over two construction seasons, the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in a news release issued Thursday. The state expects to complete the work by the end of 2017.

The project was first announced during last year’s Central New York “Capital for a Day” program.

The effort is part of a 47-point plan to “advance” the region through investments in infrastructure, housing, and higher education, according to Cuomo’s office.

The project will rehabilitate and widen Route 104 from its intersection with Route 104A in southwest Oswego to the western Oswego city line.

Crews will construct 11-foot travel lanes and eight-foot shoulders and mill “most” surfaces, topping them with asphalt.

They’ll also reconstruct some locations — including the intersections of Route 104 with County Route 20, Crestwood Drive and County Route 89 / Cemetery Road — to improve “sight distance and safety,” Cuomo’s office said.

Crews are replacing two large culverts and filling “many” of the “deep,” roadside ditches.

The project will also install new curbing and sidewalk in areas near the SUNY Oswego campus to accommodate the “increasing” number of pedestrians, Cuomo’s office said.

Traffic will continue during construction through a combination of daily lane closures with flaggers controlling alternating one-way traffic.

In the case of the culvert replacements, temporary traffic signals will control alternating one-way traffic, Cuomo’s office said.

Route 104 bisects the SUNY Oswego campus, serving student pedestrians who cross between the main campus on the north side of the road and the athletic facilities on the south side.

It is also a “vital” link in the region’s transportation network, connecting communities along the southern shore of Lake Ontario with the interstate and serving as a primary access route to the railroad and port facilities in the city of Oswego.

Route 104 in Oswego County is a national scenic byway, Cuomo’s office said, and part of the New York State Seaway Trail.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com