Public hears from planners of Market Street transportation project
Mar. 27—After brothers Vincenzo and Antonio Avanzato reprimanded Oneonta city officials last week about plans for Market Street that encroached on their property, the city and the Avanzatos came to a compromise.
Antonio Avanzato said Tuesday, March 26 that they met with city officials Monday to discuss how to preserve the three driveway entrances to the parking lot at 58-60 Market St. — the site of the historic train station, most recently Stella Luna Ristorante, which the Avanzatos are trying to sell.
Two of the three driveway entrances would have been eliminated and parking spots reduced under the city's Market Street reconstruction and streetscape project.
Under the compromise, the entrances would be kept but reduced in width.
"If you leave all three, I have no problem cutting them down," Antonio Avanzato said. He added that the new plan preserves most of the parking spots.
The Avanzatos attended a public information session Tuesday at City Hall on the Market Street project, which includes demolishing the old parking garage at 47 Market St. — which was completed in December — and replacing it with a parking lot and transit hub, as well as streetscape improvements on Market and Water streets.
About 50 people came through the City Hall lobby during the hour session was held. Present were representatives from project engineering firm Wendel Companies and contractor Upstate Companies to discuss details of the project and answer questions.
Several easels displayed construction plan maps and renderings of what Water and Market streets would look like after reconstruction.
Pam Conklin, Sidney Federal Credit Union branch manager, had questions about how the street reconfiguration would affect the building's parking lot.
"The designs were pretty descriptive," she said, "and any questions that we had, they were more than willing to answer any questions."
She said that she had met with some of the presenters before, since the exits of the credit union will be reconfigured under the plan.
"I think it was definitely informative for anybody that would have attended tonight," she said. "They definitely covered the bases to answer questions."
Oneonta resident Tracy Verma said that it looks to her like an improvement, turning the area into a place where a lot of people would make good use of t for the bus service.
"It won't be such a clog on Main Street to have buses there stopping all the time," she said. "It would make Main Street a little more accessible, which is good for people driving through."
