 
Building the Road
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While all the squabbling about the route over the Hawk’s
Nest was settled, work progressed elsewhere on the roadway. By spring
1930, the contract for construction of the section between Pond Eddy and
Barryville was about to be put out to bid. Work on roadway
surveys and acquisition of rights-of-way was carried out during the summer
and fall of 1930 and work began in October of that year on that section.
In early 1931, it was announced that the Pond Eddy-Barryville
section would be completed later in the year and that the contract had
been let for the Minisink Ford to Narrowsburg
stretch.
By the spring of 1932, work was underway on the section from
Minisink Ford to Narrowsburg and the Barryville
to Pond Eddy segment. Right-of-way maps for the segment between Narrowsburg
and Callicoon had been completed and more than 150 parcels were needed
for this 12-mile segment. The right-of-way for the Barryville
to Minisink segment was not acquired until September 1934 when
the Sullivan County Board of Supervisors agreed to purchase 55.7 acres
of the old Delaware & Hudson Canal right-of-way from the Erie Railroad.
It was noted that if the old canal bed had not been acquired for this
project, the cost would have been considerably greater than the $4,000
paid for this land.
By the fall of 1932, work was underway on all segments
of Route 97 including the segment over Hawk’s Nest. It was announced that
a 1,000-foot-long, 22-foot-wide viaduct containing 13 spans was be built
to cross the grade changes at Callicoon and would enter the village on
an upper level street. Bursen Engineering Company
of Manhattan was awarded the contract of $130,000 and it was to be completed
by December 1933. The construction of Route 97 required the excavation
or more land than had occurred before in Sullivan County. An average project
required the excavation of about 18,000 square yards per mile while 48,000
square yards per mile would be moved for Route 97.
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