SARANAC LAKE — A major construction project will close down the village end of Forest Home Road, likely through the summer, starting today.

Residents along the remote road, who just recently learned about the construction plans, are concerned about the road closure creating a months-long, half-hour-plus detour. But highway officials say it’s the only way to make an essential upgrade.

The Franklin County Highway Department will replace a box culvert on the road, also called county Route 18, to upgrade it to accommodate a larger flow of runoff from Lake Colby. The culvert is close to the intersection with Ampersand Avenue, near St. Bernard’s Cemetery. The work is scheduled to last through mid-October.

Forest Home Road connects the edge of the village population center with Lake Clear, eight miles away through the sparely populated wilderness.

A notice on the FCHD website says the work will require a full road closure with no on-site detour. The road will be open to local traffic from the western, Lake Clear end. But the work on the culvert will cut off access from the eastern, Saranac Lake end.

The closest detour to get from town to camps or houses on this stretch of road is a 10-to-15-mile route up through Lake Clear and down McMaster Road.

The Enterprise was not able to reach Franklin County Highway Superintendent Edward Adams by deadline on Friday.

Franklin County Legislator Lindy Ellis, who represents Saranac Lake, said planning for this culvert replacement began five years ago.

“Three or four months of discomfort to the residents could be better than a complete failure of the system due to neglect or aging out,” Harrietstown Highway Superintendent Dan Martin said of the project. “It has to happen.”

Thomas Jorling, the president of the Pinehurst Road Association, which represents 13 residents, said the project will have a large impact for the residents of Pinehurst Road and visitors to the Guggenheim Camp and Knollwood.

He said this closure could take emergency vehicle response times from 5 minutes to 30 or 40 minutes.

“The availability of timely emergency services was crucial in at least two cases on Pinehurst Road over the past few years,” he wrote.

——

This is a breaking news story and more information will be added as it becomes available.