Construction on a multiyear, $25 million overhaul of Tinker Street and Route 212 is expected to begin in fall 2027, bringing new bridges, wider sidewalks, additional crosswalks, and curb extensions to the busy street.

The Woodstock Complete Streets Committee outlined the timeline for the state Department of Transportation project during a committee meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 25.

The committee had also requested raised crosswalks and a reduction of the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph, but those measures were not included in the department’s most recent plan.

“We were rather distressed by that,” committee Chair Grace Murphy said. “In our initial talks with DOT we thought that the speed limit reduction was a given.”

Murphy said the town would send a letter asking the department to justify the decision. The committee anticipates holding a community meeting in September after receiving the department’s response.

A final design is due in July 2027, after which the department will solicit construction bids. Work is expected to begin in November with tree removal. Crews would then replace four bridges between Rock City Road and the Woodstock post office near Schoonmaker Lane, along the portion of Route 212 that the committee calls the “post-to-Village Green” corridor.

“These bridges have to be replaced,” committee member Howard Cohen said.

Work will begin with the replacement of the Tannery Brook bridge. Another bridge near Library Lane and two near the post office at Woodstock Meadows will also be replaced. The department identified the four bridges as nearing the ends of their service lives.

Cohen also cited the need for larger water mains and improved flood mitigation around the bridges in anticipation of flooding worsened by climate change.

Bridge replacement will continue in spring 2028, when work will also begin on sidewalk reconstruction along the south side of Tinker Street, where businesses including Houst Hardware and Overlook Bakery are located. Work on the south side is expected to last from spring through winter 2028, while the north-side sidewalk remains open. In spring 2029, work will shift to the north side, with the south-side sidewalk reopened to pedestrians.

The roadway and sidewalk will be torn out during each phase of construction. While work takes place on the south side, one lane on the north side of Tinker Street will remain open to two-way traffic. When construction shifts to the north side, one lane on the south side will carry two-way traffic.

“We don’t know how traffic will be controlled to allow vehicles to flow in between areas where work is being done,” Cohen said.

Construction will also result in a significant loss of parking. Street parking on the eastbound, or south, side of Tinker Street will be eliminated during that phase of work, and the lower Comeau parking lot will be used as a staging area for construction vehicles. Officials haven’t determined where displaced parking will be redirected.

Businesses will remain accessible throughout most of the construction period, according to the committee. Exceptions would occur when crews are digging or laying sidewalks directly outside an entrance. Business owners are expected to receive advance notice and may need to close for one or two days while work takes place outside their storefronts.

“Just key with everything is communication,” said Melissa Gibson, the owner of HERbal Woodstock at 17 Tinker St. “We need notice of how things are going to be done and when they’re going to be done so that we can be prepared.”

Gibson is part of a group of business owners who have voiced concerns about how the project could affect commerce during peak months.

Disruption to Tinker Street businesses during the construction period has been a central concern throughout the planning process. Gibson said the town and the department had been receptive to business owners’ concerns so far, although questions remain.

“Our concerns were, what parking spaces were going to be taken away? Or where will the bottlenecks be? What will cause somebody to try to circumvent the town?” Gibson said. “Those things, we want to make sure that we start addressing now so that we can do it in the best way possible.”

Business owners have also asked the town board to appoint an official liaison to communicate with them throughout the project. Gibson said the board appeared receptive to the proposal, although it has not taken action.

Cohen said the business community “came at the right time” to begin asking questions, although compromises will be needed to keep the project on schedule. The committee plans to provide the department with a calendar of events that draw visitors, including the Woodstock Film Festival, as possible dates to pause construction.

The department will “continue to work closely with the community to minimize disruptions caused by construction,” spokesperson Heather Pillsworth said in an emailed statement.

The project could also require the acquisition of narrow strips of private property.

The committee said none of the existing sidewalks comply with accessibility requirements. Although the sidewalk on the north, or westbound, side of Tinker Street is in decent condition, the project calls for widening it from 4 feet to 5 feet.

Murphy and Cohen said widening the sidewalk, approximately between Library Lane and the Lasher Funeral Home property, could require the acquisition of strips of private property up to 2 feet wide. They said eminent domain could be used if agreements cannot be reached with property owners.

The department has not provided the town with specifics, but the committee said the acquisitions would apply only to the “post-to-Village Green” portion of the street.

“It’s 1- to 2-foot strips,” Murphy said. “It’s not a giant amount of property.”

Cohen said another “hardship” would be the loss of trees surrounding the bridges that need to be replaced. The project will require the removal of 24 trees, including 12 around the Tannery Brook bridge.

“That’s going to devastate all of us,” Cohen said.

The committee said every tree removed would be replaced, with the possibility that more trees will be planted than currently line the street. The department is expected to begin planting trees in 2030 after road construction is complete.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to reflect Tinker Street will be open to two-way traffic during construction.

Isabella Schoonover is a staff reporter for The Overlook covering Woodstock, Saugerties, Hurley, and surrounding Ulster County communities. Send correspondence to isabella@theoverlooknews.com.