Editors note: This story was not published in its entirety in some editions of Friday's publication. It appears here in its entirety.
Verizon Wireless announced Thursday it has submitted applications to the Adirondack Park Agency for three new cell tower sites along the Northway.
The proposed sites are located along a 46-mile stretch of the Northway between exits 27 and 34, where cell phone reception is spotty at best.
The sites, in the towns of Lewis, North Hudson and Schroon, need approval from the APA before construction can begin, but a telephone company official believes construction is months away.
"Submitting these three sites for APA review is the next step in our efforts to provide wireless coverage along the entire length of the Northway," said Marquett Smith, president of Verizon Wireless' upstate New York division, in a news statement. "We're making very good progress and are committed to getting all 11 sites up and running as quickly as we can.
"However, a project of this scope takes time and will not happen overnight."
Verizon is working on identifying and securing the additional eight sites proposed for locations along the Northway.
In April, Verizon, along with Gov. Eliot Spitzer and local environmental groups, agreed in principle to improve wireless service along the Northway.
The push for better cell phone coverage began after Alfred Langner, 63, of Brooklyn, died from hypothermia when the vehicle he and his wife, Barbara, were traveling in crashed during a snowstorm near Exit 30 in January.
Langner and his wife, who survived, tried to call for help but could not get a cell phone signal.
State Sen. Elizabeth Little, R-Queensbury, and assemblywomen Teresa Sayward, R-Willsboro, and Janet Duprey, R-Peru, have called for temporary cell towers to go up at rest areas if there is no improvement in wireless coverage by winter.
Verizon spokesman John O'Malley said he could not give a timetable for how long it will take to get the permanent towers approved and built.
"Submitting the application is the next step," he said. "We will work with (the APA) to schedule site visits and run tests they need."
Sayward said she was encouraged by news of the application, but it appeared the APA would not have an opportunity to consider the forms until November, and that's only if the application is complete.
"Hopefully, it is a complete application and it gets approved, but I couldn't imagine that these things will be built before the snow flies," Sayward said. "We needed the coverage by this winter."
The proposed towers will be located near Route 10 in Lewis and Route 9 in North Hudson and Schroon, O'Malley said. O'Malley was traveling Thursday and did not have the specifications for the towers, so he could not say how much area the towers would cover with service.
Sayward said a meeting has been scheduled with Verizon in two weeks to discuss providing temporary coverage this winter.
Verizon and Spitzer's office have said temporary towers were not part of the agreement struck in April.
Verizon has questioned the effectiveness of temporary structures, given the likelihood of interference from hills and mountains along the Northway.