New York’s Village of Wurtsboro in Need of Help

Plans to close off the main exit into the Village of Wurtsboro lead to a change.org petition.

Residents in the Wurtsboro, NY area (Sullivan County) are concerned about the planned closure of the main exit into the village, which could put the village in jeopardy. Some say the small village won't survive if they close the exit.

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Wurtsboro is a village located on U.S. Route 209 in the town of Mamakating in Sullivan County, New York, United States, near its junction with New York State Route 17. The population was 1,124 at the 2020 census. Since 1927 the area has been served by Wurtsboro-Sullivan County Airport.

A change.org petition titled Save Exit 114 was started this week by Visit Wurtsboro. The petition states that there is a plan to close exit 114 (Wurtsboro Village exit) off Route 17 by the Department of Transportation when Route 17 is converted to I-86 in the next couple of years.

The plan was reportedly not widely publicized and a watchdog group recently uncovered the info so time is short for the attempt to protest the decision and save Wurtsboro Village from becoming another Parksville- a once thriving Catskill Town which became a ghost town when Route 17 bypassed them.

Donna Bee owns Busy Bee Taxi Service in Wurtsboro and voiced her concerns to us regarding the plans.

I own Busy Bee taxi and the road closure would mean that I either have to drive through a busy pedestrian area in Bloomingburg or charge the customers more money to go around Exit 113 , closing 114 blocks off our access to the Village. For our retail businesses and restaurants, 114 is the lifeline that brings people through our village without it there would be no reason for people to come thru Sullivan street and lastly for emergency vehicles if there are any accidents that exit gives us quicker access to having more assistance.

-Donna Bee Busy Bee Taxi Service

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NYSDOT has given until May 28th to get signatures on the petition to show support for keeping EXIT 114 open. You do not need to be a resident of Wurtsboro. You just have to be concerned about the closing of this exit and the economic and public safety impact it will have on the community.

The goal is to collect 3000 signatures by Tuesday, to present a compelling argument to the DOT. At the time of this writing, nearly 1,000 signatures have already been collected. You can get more info on the petition and sign it here.