The transportation agency met with members of the town board and planning board to discuss the project which has been in various stages of development and planning for a decade.

DOT Project Developer Jillian Draper said it has been two years since there was a lot of active work on what has started out as a minor safety project, but mushroomed into something unmanageable and unaffordable.

The agency, she said, is now in the process of reviewing and prioritizing capital projects and wants to the keep the Route 28 plan affordable. To accomplish that, some features of the plan have been taken off the drawing board.

Currently, the plan calls for starting at Goey Pond Rd., south of the Dreams Park, and improving the sight distance by reducing the elevation.

The intersection with the Dreams Park entrance will be widened and a traffic signal installed both this spring in a separate project at Dreams Park’s expense.

Sidewalks, once a part of the plan, have been dropped.

``Unfortunately, at this time sidewalks will not be able to be included,’’ she said.

Pedestrians will be accommodated by providing a wide shoulder.

A bi-directional turn lane is planned from the Hartwick Commons north through Index to the intersection with Route 11-C, which will also have a southbound left turn lane.

Still included in the project is the re-alignment of the intersection of Route 28 and Greenough Rd., but it is unlikely now the historic Willsey House will be acquired.

``We feel that re-aligning Greenough Rd. is going to help things a whole lot,’’ said DOT Project Development Supervisor John Fitzgerald.

Town board member Lynn Green asked about the appropriateness of the new driveway for the proposed Hampton Inn, next to the Holiday Inn.

``It seems like an awful place to add a new curb cut,’’ she said

Fitzgerald said they had concerns about it and made the developer move the motel back from the road. He said the agency’s concerns, which focus on safety, were addressed by the developer.

He told local officials that if they believe there are still issues with the new driveway, they don’t have to approve it simply because the DOT allows it.

The DOT would not put a price tag on the project other than to say it was considerably lower than what it had been previously.

DOT officials said they did not have a timeline for the project right now, but the earliest it would begin is April 2010. By early March, Fitzgerald said, they will have a better idea of their schedule.

The agency has held two public information meetings about the project and plans to hold another as the project unfolds.