TRR photo by David Hulse Heavy holiday weekend traffic, pictured here on June 29, could become the norm with further growth now anticipated on the “Kiamesha Corridor” of Route 42. (Click for larger image)

‘Kiamesha Corridor’... the new miracle mile?

By DAVID HULSE

KIAMESHA — Tony Cellini loves to talk about growth in the Town of Thompson.

After all, there’s an interstate (planned I-86) coming to town, up to four possible Indian casinos in the works and a new corporate park in Rock Hill. He’s almost bubbling about a planned new 250-room resort and 18-hole golf course at the former Laurels in Sackett Lake, and then there’s the new $400,000 sewer line the town is installing for one of the county’s largest employers, Sullivan Diagnostic.

But Route 42 in Kiamesha is in the center of it all, the “Kiamesha Corridor,” he calls it. The corridor is beginning to resemble Silver Lake, outside Middletown, when Ed Lloyd built his shopping center out on Route 211 in the middle of pasture lands in the Town of Wallkill.

Cellini, supervisor since 1994 and town board member since 1974, has been in the middle of the changes in Kiamesha. Along with his ongoing efforts to bring Indian gaming to town, he was deeply involved in bringing the Wal-Mart Superstore to town at its nearby Anawana Lake Road site, and predicted its arrival when most observers scoffed at the idea.

Now he’s saying more development is coming along the corridor.

Thompson planners are currently considering re-zoning of some 70 acres of former Concord properties that adjoin the Ames and Shop-Rite stores along Rock Ridge Road. These properties, currently owned by the county after the Concord bankruptcy, would also adjoin other commercial areas east of Route 42, where developers are considering two “big-box” stores and a strip mall. Cellini says the new mall area would likely be anchored by either a Lowes, Home Depot or Staples store.

“We’re also going to include an extension of Rock Ridge Road and a connecting arterial between the shopping centers,” he added. Rock Ridge Road would swing westerly and connect with an existing traffic light on the current dead-end road adjoining the McDonald’s Restaurant on Route 42.

That’s not all either. On the westerly side of Route 42, Lanahan Road intersects Anawana Road opposite Wal-Mart and runs parallel to Route 42. Aside from its access to a new Kentucky Fried Chicken store, the area along Lanahan is currently residential with a few unoccupied bungalow colonies. But Cellini says that could change too, as K-Mart has expressed interest in the property.

Wal-Mart is not sitting still, either, he said. The nation’s largest retailer wants to add a gasoline station to its development and a connecting road that would lead to a new Burger King store, fronting on Route 42.

Planned realignment of the access and exit ramps for Route 17 (I-86) and the addition of two new traffic lights will ease congestion at the intersection, and he foresees the addition of new lanes to the highway as it passes the commercial strip. “This is going to bring a lot of construction work, as well,” he added. 

Indian casinos, new shopping centers and franchise restaurants… is this sprawl? Cellini says no.

“It’s all planned development… it’s semi-sprawl,” he added candidly, and he’s proud to be involved in the changes. “I want to part of the process that brings 4,000 new jobs to Sullivan County,” he said.