BALLSTON & MALTA — The town boards of Ballston and Malta will hold an unusual joint meeting to discuss their ideas for reconstruction of the Route 67 corridor.

“We want to be sure we have a vision that works for both towns, since this is a critical corridor for both towns,” said Ballston Supervisor Patti Southworth.

The state Department of Transportation is currently working on plans to reconstruct the state highway between Ballston Spa and Malta, starting in 2010, and is seeking local input.

Southworth and Malta Supervisor Paul Sausville are discussing dates in September when the two boards could meet.

The state will try to accommodate changes sought by local officials if possible, said Peter Van Keuren, a DOT spokesman.

“We will involve them in the design we’re looking at,” he said.

The four-mile stretch of highway between Route 50 in Ballston and Northway Exit 12 in Malta is scheduled for a $12.5 million reconstruction, starting in the summer of 2010.

The two-lane highway is a primary commuter route between western Saratoga County communities and the Northway, traveled by approximately 19,000 vehicles per day.

“We recognize that it’s a critical route,” Van Keuren said. “We recognize traffic will continue to grow.”

The highway frontage is zoned primarily for commercial use in Ballston, where at least one major commercial project is approved but unbuilt. The frontage is zoned primarily for residential use in Malta, which is trying to keep the western part of the town rural.

One of the state’s goals will be to move traffic more efficiently, Van Keuren said. He said designers are looking at installing new roundabouts at East Line Road and Route 67, where there’s now a traffic light, and also at Brookline Road and Route 67, which is controlled by a stop sign on Brookline Road.

“We think they are a good thing,” Van Keuren said of roundabouts. “They have become our intersection of choice.”

The new project isn’t directly related to the construction now underway on Route 67 near Curtis Lumber, which is replacing the aging bridge that once carried traffic across railroad tracks.

The bridge is scheduled to close on Thursday, Aug. 14, with traffic detoured onto Underpass Road, which has undergone improvements. The bridge will be replaced with a large culvert, and the route is expected to reopen about Sept. 11.

Sausville and Southworth said other issues could also come up at the joint meeting, including town recreation needs and the desire of the Round Lake Fire Department to have a new substation on East Line Road, near where new development it serves has been under construction in Ballston.

“We impact each other so greatly, it just makes sense to meet,” Southworth said. “We share a border, we share a school district, so everything we do affects the other.”