Harckham and Burdick to DOT: Fix Route 117

New York State Senator Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Chris Burdick sent a joint letter recently to New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez calling for immediate and decisive action to address the dangerously deteriorated condition of parts of Route 117 in Bedford.

In their letter, Harckham and Burdick said that a stretch of Route 117 from Harris Road to the Bedford Hills Fire Station had reached a crisis point, posing significant safety and financial risks to residents and motorists alike.

“Route 117 is a vital corridor for local residents, school buses, delivery trucks, and emergency vehicles,” Burdick said. “The current state of this road is unacceptable and unsustainable. We are urging the Department of Transportation to make the full repaving of this section a top priority.”

“The condition of Route 117 is no longer a matter of inconvenience—it’s a matter of public safety,” Harckham said. “Potholes, crumbling pavement, and uneven surfaces are damaging vehicles, slowing emergency response times, and putting drivers at risk.”

The legislators noted that the deteriorated pavement exposes vehicles to thousands of dollars in damage, and that simple patchwork repairs are no longer effective. The degraded surface also poses a serious hazard for emergency responders, who must slow their vehicles to navigate the area safely—potentially delaying response times during life-threatening emergencies.

The lawmakers stressed that without swift action, the worsening road conditions could lead to further vehicle damage, increased maintenance costs, and higher risks for motorists, while also compromising public safety in critical situations.

Harckham and Burdick’s letter calls on NYSDOT to prioritize and fund the full repaving of Route 117 between Harris Road and the Bedford Hills Fire Station as soon as possible.

While calling for immediate action on Route 117, the legislators also acknowledged that the NYSDOT has recently repaved or announced the repaving of some of the most problematic roads in the area, including Routes 133, 35, and 9A.