Pioneer Sidewalks Replaced

From Lake To Church Streets

Hans Oertel, left, and Curtis Hohenholdt of Upstate Companies. the Mount-Upton-based contracting firm, lay new sidewalks this morning just up from Tillapaugh Funeral Home, the start of a two-week undertaking to replace the sidewalks on both side of Cooperstown’s Pioneer Street between Lake and Church streets.  At right, Josh Young, Schuyler Lake, pulls back the tarp in front of Stagecoach Coffee.   According to Trustee Cindy Falk, Street Committee chair, the orange striped cone in the foreground – there are 24 – marks a post where new streetlights will be installed next year.  The centerpiece of next summer’s federally funded $2 million TEP (Transportation Enhance Project) will be a redo of the traffic light at Chestnut and Main, but sidewalks will also be replaced on Main from the light to Paperkite, new glass-aggregate crosswalks will be installed, and amenities – more benches and bike racks among them – are also in the works.  Intense upgrades to the downtown of “America’s Most Perfect Village” have been underway for five years now.  (Jim Kevliin/AllOTSEGO.com)