Major changes are coming to the Prospect Mountain Project that may lead to hopping on the 17 East Interstate 81 North ramp sooner than expected. The New York State Department of Transportation offered special incentives to the ramp contractor to get it done quickly and it may pay off as soon as tonight. This would be nearly a month earlier than originally scheduled but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. If the ramp isn’t completed by the end of the day today, the opening will be pushed back to early next week. The DOT wants to open the ramp on a day with normal workday traffic. Right now, commuters have to get in the right lane of 17 East to take the Front Street exit for the current I-81 North detour. But once the ramp opens, drivers will take the left lane directly to the I-81 ramp, similar to the way it was before the construction. The next big project for the DOT will be opening up the Prospect Street ramp and closing the Mygatt Street ramp to start work on that. Phase 1 of the Prospect Mountain project is expected to be completed in late 2015 and Phase 2 will begin around the same time.
