Pause in Wet Weather Allows Major Paving Projects in Blooming Grove

Round Hill Road West between Route 208 and Route 94

With complaints seemingly endless about the conditions of New York roads, you might think you stepped into an alternate reality this week when taking a drive on numerous Blooming Grove roads. Blooming Grove Highway Superintendent, Wayne Kirkpatrick had been frustrated beyond words about the early Summer wet weather that put the kabosh on his road repair list, but chomping at the bit to do their work, the Highway Team finally got their chance and worked practically non-stop over the past few weeks to catch up on resurfacing of about a half dozen of them including Round Hill Road West, Oxford Road, and Mountain Lodge Park. Horton Rd. is in process, Old Mansion Rd. is completed to Mediacom, and Phase 1 of Greycourt Road is under way and will likely be completed this week.

It would have been tempting to do some of this work earlier this Spring, but, as they say, "Haste makes waste" and the resulting quality of the road surfaces would have been inferior. Instead, despite having to grade and lay asphalt during some days where the temps soared to the upper 80's (and a few weather reports noting "feels like 110"), they put smiles on a lot of drivers' faces who probably recalled "Oh, this is what driving is supposed to be like".

Oxford Road - a long curving country road that links Craigville Road and Route 94

Some of these roads, which were already in fairly good condition, (like Round Hill and Oxford) receive what is called "microsurfacing", which is a protective layer meant to continue the good condition for an extra 5 or more years.

Greycourt Road...a major connecting road between Blooming Grove and Chester -gravel and leveling was done on Friday, hoping to finish early this week.

Greycourt Road is partly done, workers having spread milling and doing initial grading last Friday. Blooming Grove's portion of Greycourt extends from Craigville Rd. until just before the Camp LaGuardia Chester entrance where a lot of work has recently been done by the County (stay tuned) as the site transforms to become a new County Park. A new parking area has been set up for hikers just a few hundred feet from the Security Station.

Tomorrow, IF the weather is clear, work on the Blooming Grove portion of Greycourt will continue, and although the Highway Department does its best to keep one lane open it may be wise to choose an alternate route (17M or Rt. 94) if you plan on going into Chester.

Roads currently being worked on are clearly marked.

Along the Greycourt border of Blooming Grove and Chester, the County' has made a new staging area at the entrance to the Camp LaGuardia/future New County Park, for hikers wanting to go West toward Goshen on the Heritage Trail and East through Blooming Grove toward the Moodna Trestle on the Schunnemunk Rail Trail (now under early stages of construction). These new uses are likely to increase traffic significantly in the area, so it is particularly important that the road surface is top quality.

Horton Road - Repairs in progress

Old Mansion Road at Mediacom Way

Far from done with their 2025 list, the Blooming Grove crew still has a list of more travel routes to tackle, as well as 26 miles of striping that they do every year. For those of us who use these roads daily it's surprising how much stress is alleviated facing a smooth and even surface drive, rather than having to be constantly on the watch for potholes and ditches. Kudos to these road workers who perhaps should be given tee shirts or caps that say "And miles to go before we sleep."