STRIPED! Fishkill and Teller Avenues Finally Striped After 20 Years Of Planning And Securing 95% Funding

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Fishkill and Teller Avenues have reached the final phase of “The PRoject” that has been 20 years in the making to upgrade piping and road infrastructure in that area.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth

After 20 years of planning, the last year of which drivers in Beacon have been navigating through detours, rough roads and construction crews risking their lives so that people can have smooth, safe roadways in Beacon, the striping has finally begun getting painted onto Fishkill and Teller Avenues, as well as some outlier areas.

In its description of The Project, the City of Beacon reminded the community that this project came through “after more than 20 years of planning, engineering, right-of-way acquisition, and regulatory approvals.” The Project was estimated to be $9 million and was 95% funded through federal and state transportation grants.

It began in June 2024, and encountered a few bumps. Toward the end on July 17th, 2025, the City of Beacon announced: “Approximately 20% of the new sidewalk on Teller and Fishkill Avenues will be torn out and replaced. The concrete used in these sections last fall was substandard and caused the sidewalks to flake and spall even though they were just installed last year. The replacement of these sections is being done by the contractor at NO ADDITIONAL COST to the City. This sidewalk work will take about two weeks. Starting in mid-August, all of Teller Avenue and Fishkill Avenue between Main Street and Blackburn Avenue (across from Memorial Park) will be milled and paved. Thank you for your patience and flexibility as we get through this generational upgrade to these critical streets.”

The original project area covered Teller Avenue from Wolcott Avenue (Route 9D) to Main Street and Fishkill Avenue from Main Street to Blackburn Avenue. Improvements included in this project were:

  • Replacements of all existing sidewalks with new 5-foot-wide concrete sidewalks.

  • Installing new curbing.

  • Replacing drainage structures throughout the Project area.

  • Repaving and re-striping the roadway during its final phase.

Safety enhancements included:

  • Adding a Leading Pedestrian Interval signaling at the intersection of Teller Avenue/ Fishkill Avenue and Main Street. A woman was killed at that intersection while walking to cross the street. She was a grandmother who was hit by another grandmother driving from school kid pickup.

  • Installing 2 raised pedestrian crosswalks near Memorial Park (“speed tables”).

  • Reconfiguring the intersection at Teller Avenue and Wolcott Avenue as a “T” intersection, with the George Washington monument moved to the north side of Teller Avenue.

  • BONUS: The City was negotiating to extend the sidewalk replacement work further from Blackburn Avenue towards the Town of Fishkill border, if funding allowed.