It was best of roads, it was the worst of roads. Sanly Road runs some three miles from near the eastern end of Franklin Depot Road northward up the hill and then down five hundred feet to the middle of Merrickville Road. From Franklin Depot Road, it is a broad dirt road for 0.2 miles until past the only two permanent residences on the southern end. For the next 0.5 miles, it is a curving country lane up to a wide turn-around used by the snowplows. The middle two miles are narrow, rutted and often steep. At the northern end, the trail becomes a road again, running 0.3 miles down to Merrickville Road.
No one lives along these middle two miles, and Sanly has been a seasonal road (i.e., not plowed in winter) for many years. In a time of tight budgets, the Town Board worried that if a permanent residence was built along the middle section, the Town might have to pay to upgrade the road.
Property along this section is owned by John and Bertha Greschak, Oritam Rod & Gun Club, Justin Wyka, Richard Yards, Adolph Vogel, Jason Quackenbush, and Carol Ann Decker. They were invited to comment on the fate of Sanly Road at a public hearing in September. County Supervisor of Highways Wayne Reynolds reported that there is minimal public traffic on Sanly and that abandoning the road would cause no hardship to these land owners.
In October, the Town Board voted unanimously for a qualified abandonment. The Highway Department no longer has any responsibility to maintain it. Signs will be posted at the turn-arounds. Franklin still retains the easement of the roadway, and the public may still travel along it. Land owners can put a gate across the roadway, but it may not be locked. Should a home be built along this stretch, the owner would be required to upgrade the road before requesting Town services.