Capital
District Transportation Committee
Bicycle
and Pedestrian Task Force
Record of
Meeting on
Attendance: Lance Ferson (Private
Consultant), Kevin McLoughlin (HRV Greenway), Don Odell (Albany County Dept. of
Economic Development, Conservation and Planning), Don Robertson (NYSDOT -
Region 1), Deb Spicer (NYSDOH), Ivan Vamos, (New York Bicycling Coalition),
Katherine Forster (CDTC)
Regrets: Dominick DeCecco (
1.0 AGENDA AND MEETING NOTES REVIEW
There
were no changes to the November Task Force meeting notes.
2.0 PROJECTS/PROGRAMS AND OTHER UPDATES
Ivan
Vamos has seen accommodations where there is a groove along the side of the
stairs so that the bike can be walked down or up easily. He will look for the literature. Another consideration will have to be how to
accommodate pedestrian with strollers.
There
will have to be some type of fencing to prohibit objects from being thrown off
etc. but if the Task Force can identify any other examples of creative fencing
it would be appreciated. Ivan Vamos
described the bridge in River Bank State Park, which used an inventive fencing
approach. He gave Lance Ferson the name
of the architect who designed the bridge.
The Task Force appreciated being updated and involved in this project
and requested to be kept up to date on the details of the project.
3.0 UPDATE ON ACTION ITEMS
(September 16, 1999) Staff to summarize the results of the trail maintenance survey for a
future meeting. (See Item 4.2)
(October 26, 1999) P. Russell will bring a map re: proposed Bike Path from Schuyler Flats to the next meeting. P. Russell provided an aerial view map of Schuyler Flats. This item was deferred to January so that there would be sufficient time to discuss the topic.
(November 18, 1999) Write-up for this program and the CDTC's Enhancement Program to be
included in the mail-out for the Task Force to review. (See Item 4.3)
(November 18, 1999) CDTA will endeavor to bring some information on the Bikes on Buses
program to the next meeting. (See
Item 2.2)
4.0 ONGOING TASKS
4.3 Spot Improvement Program: A write-up for this program
and the CDTC's Enhancement Program were included in the mail-out for the Task
Force to review. In regards to the Spot
Improvement Program the Task Force had these suggestions:
- On Pg. 3 where it says that maps would not be required, it was suggested that some kind of map should be required.
- On Pg. 3. (Evaluation) it was suggested that there be a point scale for the overmatch of funds. It was also suggested that the program state that volunteers, donations and other in-kind services would count towards the overmatch.
- Also in regards to the Spot Improvement Program, it was suggested that the selection committee should have the chance to break down the projects and fund partial projects as it is in the CDTC Enhancement program.
- The Task Force agreed that safety was an important element to this program.
NYBC
is also working on getting a change in the Federal legislation so that the
Federal Enhancement program would fund only bicycle and pedestrian
projects. Ivan Vamos noted that the
other types of projects (historic, etc.) have other sources in which they can
apply for grants while this is the only funding source for bicycle and
pedestrians.
The next step is to contact various municipalities and organizations and gather all the trails and routes to be mapped. If they are already mapped and can be transferred directly to CDTC's GIS this will be done.
5.2 Livingston Avenue Bridge: Ivan Vamos reported that
there was an article in the paper this month regarding the Livingston Avenue
Bridge pedestrian crossing. He would
like to put this item on the agenda for the next meeting to discuss how to
proceed in regards to this issue. While CDTC, as an MPO, cannot advocate in
regards to this, the various organizations represented at the meeting can
discuss how they would like to approach this issue individually. Suggestions from the Task Force were to
commission a study to counteract specific objections (swing bridge, high speed
trains) and to write to the New York State Senators Joseph Bruno and Neil
Breslin since this project will be using federal and state funding.
-
Two public meetings regarding the draft recommendations for the
nomination of the Champlain Canal Byway will be held on Tuesday, January 11th
at 7pm, Town offices, Route 4, Fort Ann and Wednesday, January 12th
at 7pm, Senior Citizens' Community Center, 178 North Main Street,
Mechanicville.