To the Editor:
In response to “Oh, the irony: Salina likes truck stops more than the trucks” (Aug. 1, 2023):
If you travel 40 miles south from Liverpool you will find yourself in Cortland, in an entirely different county, where letter writer Michael Gallagher lives. This writer is remarkably off-base. It takes a special kind of mental gymnastics to attempt to connect the village of Liverpool’s fight against truck traffic and the town of Salina’s fight against the Interstate 81 community grid. Nonetheless it is worth laying out the facts for readers.
Gallagher claims that I am somehow contradicting myself by fighting for the survival of Salina businesses against the predations of Albany insiders seeking to destroy the economies built up around Interstate 81, while also supporting village of Liverpool leaders trying to maintain peace and public safety in their residential village nearly four miles away.
The Pilot truck stop the misinformed writer mentions is part of the Seventh North Street Business Corridor, a business corridor built around I-81. That business corridor is anchored by several thriving hotels, restaurants, and other businesses that will be put at risk by the “community grid” proposition. Commercial traffic already exists in this corridor and many commercial businesses (including the newly redeveloped Unifirst building, the newly built Restaurant Depot and others) rely on the interstate for their success. And to this very day, New York state has not offered any form of mitigation to offset potential damages by the “community grid.”
The village of Liverpool is not located near the Seventh North Street business corridor. In fact, by taking I-81 or the Thruway connecting to I-81, traffic could circumnavigate the village entirely (and maybe even patronize the businesses at the Seventh North Street exit while they are at it). The village is a quiet community with small houses, community parks and weekly outdoor concerts. It has a thriving…
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