 As an arterial highway, Broad Street would be widened by as much as , resulting in a wide road.The plan was opposed by the city's traffic commission in January 1951, which believed that the widening would negatively impact the city's appearance by requiring the removal of any landscaping between the road and its sidewalks, including roadside trees.The commission countered with a proposal calling for the construction of a new highway along the east bank of the Chenango River that bypassed downtown.