Capital District Transportation Committee

Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force

Record of Meeting on June 14, 2005

 

 

Attendance:   Judy Breselor (Rensselaer County), Mark Cashman (MHCC/LAB), Lindsay Childs (Guilderland Pathways), Dom De Cecco (Retired), Mary  McNeill ( NYSDOT Region 1), Don Odell (Albany Bicycling Coalition), Henrietta O’Grady (Halfmoon Trails), Joshua Poppel (NYBC), Deb Spicer (NYSDOH Healthy Heart), Elaine Troy (NYSDOH Healthy Heart), Teresa La Salle (CDTC), Jason Purvis (CDTC)

 

1.0 AGENDA AND MEETING NOTES REVIEW

 

The May 2005 meeting minutes were approved.

 

2.0 PROJECTS/PROGRAMS AND OTHER UPDATES

 

2.1 Rensselaer County Trail: J. Purvis reported that NYSDEC and NIMO have come to an agreement to make part of the cleanup site permissible to pave in the future to allow the proposed trail to pass through the area. Jason will be attending a meeting regarding the trail on Wednesday, June 22nd.

 

 

3.0 NEW BUSINESS

 

3.1 Beginning the Regional Map update process:  T. La Salle is in the process of creating municipal level maps for the four county region displaying CDTC’s current GIS coverages of bike/hike and nature trails as well as parks and recreation sites.  These maps will be sent to each municipality to verify existing data and gather additional data for the update of CDTC’s 2002 Regional Bike-Hike Trail Map.  Creation of the municipal maps is expected to be completed by the end of June.

 

3.2 Parks and Trails New York Conference:  This conference will be held this coming weekend Friday June 17 and Saturday June 18th at SUNY New Paltz.  J. Purvis will be moderating a session on grants Saturday afternoon. 

 

3.3 National Trails Day Events:  Task Force members shared trails day activities that they participated in.

 

3.4 Scheduling of meetings:  The meeting dates for the next six months were set and are as follows:                                  

                                                            July 12th

                                                            August 9th

                                                            September 13th

                                                            October 18th

                                                            November 15th

                                                            December 13th

 

3.5 Bicycle Level of Service Inventory:  J. Purvis noted that CDTC interns are currently updating the Pedestrian Friendliness Inventory and the Bicycle Level of Service Inventory.  Locations on the Bike/Ped Priority Network are being inventoried first.

 

3.6 Other New Business: 

 

Several members noted changes to the mailing list.  CDTC will update.

 

There will be a Safe Routes to School Training Session on Monday and Tuesday, June 20th and 21st in Rochester, sponsored by the NYS MPO Association.

 

A map of the Vancouver Regional Greenway System was shared with members as part of the follow up to the Regional Greenway discussion at the May meeting.

 

Members discussed the possibility of trail map color standardizations.

 

Several members noted that they attended a recent MPO Safety Forum in Poughkeepsie which included information on Safe Routes to School.

 

E. Troy noted that the Glens Falls MPO has started a Flag Crossing program.

 

M. McNeill gave an overview of NYSDOT’s Semi-Annual Bike/Ped Meeting.

 

J. Poppel noted that there will be a Colonie River Festival on July 9th that includes events along the Bike Trail.  T. La Salle has a digital copy of the flier available to interested parties.

 

J. Poppel also noted that he is officially the new director of NYBC.

 

H. O’Grady reported that the Zim Smith Trail is now under contract with Greenman Pederson for design and construction should commence next year.

 

H. O’ Grady also noted that the Town of Halfmoon received a proposal to accommodate wheelchair access on the trail under the Crescent Road Bridge.

 

Also in Halfmoon, the Halfmoon Dualathon will be taking place on Sunday October 2nd.

 

Halfmoon has completed their Trail Master Plan and anticipates distribution after approval by the town board.

 

D. Odell noted that the Albany City Common Council has made the month of May officially Bike month.

 

J. Purvis noted that the Stillwater Route 4 Linkage Study is underway and is looking into pedestrian connections to the Hudson River.

 

J. Purvis requested ideas and suggestions for upcoming presentations.  Members suggested the following:  NYSDOT Roundabout Presentation, Highway Trail ROW, Zim Smith Trail Update,

Albany City Bike/Ped Master Plan Update, and NYBC Share the Road Safely.

 

H. O’Grady requested bike/ped related hand-outs for an upcoming event in Halfmoon in September.

 

 

3.0 UPCOMING EVENTS

 

-        The next CDTC Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 12, 2005 at 4:30 p.m. at the CDTC Offices.