Matteawan Road Open To School Community Through Corrections Facility During Construction

Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth

In a temporary about-face, the Fishkill Corrections Facility has allowed school traffic on Matteawan Road off of Prospect Street to drive through the facility grounds to get to Route 52 / Fishkill Avenue. In November 2021, Fishkill Corrections announced an immediate closure of the road, which disrupted busing routes and school traffic during an already congested time when construction was heavy on the I-84 bridge. Despite expressed desire of the school district back then to possibly work with the City of Beacon to reverse this decision, the facility did not change this rule.

This year, before the start of school, the City of Beacon announced that the Fishkill Corrections Facility agreed to re-open Matteawan Road temporarily while traffic has been continuously impacted and rerouted during the sewer and water main replacement work that resulted in repaving of the streets and the re-laying of 20% of sidewalks on Fishkill and Teller Avenues when the concrete was discovered to be “substandard” and was flaking and spalling after one year.

"The City of Beacon is pleased to announce that Fishkill Correctional Facility has generously agreed to allow school traffic to utilize the previously-closed portion of Matteawan Road off of Prospect Street/ Fishkill Ave in the morning and afternoons for access to and from Beacon High School and Rombout Middle School."

Parents, teachers, students and school staff can now use that access route to reach the schools. "No other through traffic will be permitted," the City of Beacon stated. The temporary and limited access will continue until the City of Beacon completes its infrastructure upgrade project, which is expected to last into November.