BERNE — A section of Route 443 in Berne that has become infamous for its poor conditions will be repaved starting Monday, according to the New York State Department of Transportation.

The town was notified about a week ago, said Berne Supervisor Kevin Crosier at a meeting Wednesday.

The state will be paving from where the county road intersects with Chrysler Lane to the intersection with Route 85, totaling approximately 5.8 miles in length and 11.6 lane miles — which is double the length since it accounts for two lanes — said Bryan Viggiani, public information officer for Region 1 of DOT. This work is budgeted for up to $2.5 million, stretching from Chrysler Lane in Berne to Tarrytown Road in Clarksville, according to a release from the governor’s office.

Roadword is scheduled to start Monday, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Traffic will be reduced to one alternating lane controlled by flaggers assisted by a pilot car, said Viggiani.

Berne's highway Superintendent, Randy Bashwinger, said that it typically takes six to eight weeks to completely finish the paving.

“The backup is going to be unbelievable on that road,” he said at the meeting.

Town residents in the gallery at Wednesday’s meeting voiced their complaints of the winding, hilly road, such as locations of potholes or simply spots that are “really bad.” Crosier said residents had called the town offices over the past few years with concerns about Route 443’s conditions.

One resident, Dennis White, wrote a letter to The Enterprise on June 22, “Craters on Helderberg Trail make it an obstacle course”; at that time, Viggiani told The Enterprise that a project to repave the stretch of Route 443 between two previously repaved sections was scheduled for next year.

Crosier attributed the current paving schedule to persistent requests from the town to begin the project.

“Every year, the governor’s office calls the supervisors and mayors and says ‘What’s on the list?’,” said Crosier, at the meeting. “The thing that we said that was on the list that we really wanted was to move this project forward.”

According to Viggiani, the push forward was due it being one of many projects funded by $403.3 million for pavement improvements across New York State.

The upcoming project will complete paving the section of Route 443 in Berne, said Viggiani. DOT had paved 4.5 miles of the road from the Schoharie County line to east of Route 156 in 2015. In 2014, a 1.5-mile segment of Route 443 was paved where it overlaps with Route 85, near the roads Upper Letter S and Lower Letter S.

Slowing down

Crosier also said that, following the completion of the paving, the town board intends to request that the speed limit on Route 443 be decreased from 55 to 45 miles per hour, from the intersection of Route 443 with Route 85, to its intersection at Route 157. The speed limit is 45 miles per hour from that point on.

Viggiani said that the town had contacted DOT, and that the agency is performing a speed study of that section of Route 443, and will get back to the town following the study.