From the Board of Trade to store owners, the village of Wurtsboro has rallied around an attempt to stop the closure of exit 114 off of state route 17, which would cut off access from the highway to the central business district.

The rationale for the closure dates back to 1998, when a federal project began with the goal of turning it from a state route to an interstate highway, called I-86, the Southern Tier Expressway. I-86 now runs through the southern tier and northern Pennsylvania, but much of the eastern leg still has to be converted.

The problem is there are federal standards for interstate on- and off-ramps, and exit 114 doesn’t meet those requirements. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYS DOT) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have put forward a packet of solutions that range from building a new off-ramp – which would mean blasting through a mountain, moving the exit, or shutting it down entirely.

None of those options are particularly appealing, but it’s that last one that has residents most alarmed, as it would mean totally bypassing the Sullivan Street drag, which has been booming in the past few years.

Into the fray has stepped Wurtsboro’s new congressional representative, Josh Riley. Riley won against incumbent Marc Molinaro last November with a campaign built around helping small businesses. Molinaro never visited the village, and it’s possible Riley will lean into this cause to make his mark on his new constituency.

“If a bunch of bureaucrats want to come in and close down Exit 114 and hurt the small business owners, hurt the community, and make people less safe,” he is reported to have vowed, “I’ll introduce federal legislation to override it.”

The congressman put on a “KEEP EXIT 114 OPEN” tee and spoke to local leaders and businessowners, including some from Wurtsboro Wares and Canal Towne Emporium. Afterwards, he announced that he spoke to regulators and project managers for the highway conversion and encouraged them to reconsider.

On Facebook, he posted a message of strong support for the Keep Exit 114 Open movement. “The future of Wurtsboro depends on it,” he wrote, “and we’re not backing down.”