Capital
District Transportation Committee
Bicycle
and Pedestrian Task Force
Record of
Meeting on September 10, 2002
Attendance: Mark Cashman (MHCC/LAB),
Lindsay Childs (Guilderland Pathways), Kenneth Kovalchik (Hudson River Valley
Greenway), Andy Labruzzo (Albany Co. EDCP), Don Odell (retired planner), Don
Robertson (NYSDOT Region1), Deb Spicer (NYSDOH), John Stangle (Village of
Menands), Elaine Troy (NYSDOH - Healthy Heart), Jim Utermark (The Louis Berger
Group, Inc.), Ivan Vamos (NYBC), Teresa La Salle (CDTC), Jason Purvis (CDTC)
1.0 AGENDA AND MEETING NOTES REVIEW
August 2002 minutes were approved.
2.0 PROJECTS/PROGRAMS AND OTHER UPDATES
2.1 SPOT
Improvement Program (Round 2): J. Purvis announced that of the seventeen
proposals submitted, CDTC's Planning Committee approved the top eight projects,
ranked by the evaluation team. The eight
projects total $236,987 in federal funds. J. Purvis provided members with
handouts depicting the final rankings, including brief descriptions of the
eight selected for funding.
2.2
Greenway--Albany
County Trail Meeting: On August 29th Albany County hosted a meeting
facilitated by the Greenway to discuss trail gaps in Albany County. The meeting was well attended (about 35
participants) including several members of the Bike/Ped Task Force. J. Purvis noted that this meeting served as a
precursor to the Crossroads Connection Study meeting to be held in
October. A. Labruzzo noted that meeting
notes will be distributed to those who attended the meeting. The Greenway will be updating their planning
map. The updated map may be distributed
at a future meeting.
3.0 ONGOING TASKS
3.1 Greenways Grant for Regional Bike Trail: J. Purvis handed out "Save the
Date" flyers noting the Regional Outreach Crossroads Connections meeting
to be held at the Village of Menands
Firehouse on October 29th at 7:00 p.m. This meeting will focus on the
Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail corridor, between Menands and Cohoes. E. Troy offered to
expand the invitation to additional trail user groups. K. Kovalchik inquired
about press releases for the event. J.
Purvis noted that he expects there will be some printed in local newspapers. J.
Purvis noted that there will be a combined Bicycle Pedestrian Task Force
meeting for October/November at this meeting.
J. Purvis mentioned planning a bike ride in early October, in place of
the regular October meeting if members are interested.
3.2
Canalway
Initiative:
D. Odell provided attendees with a copy of the Canalway Trail Customer
Satisfaction Survey. D. Odell noted that
the governor signed adopt-a-trail legislation, which the NYS Thruway Authority
lawyers are looking at regarding insurance issues. D. Odell reported that Howard Halstead, of
the Friends of the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail group, has been in contact
with Kathy Matern, Town of Niskayuna Planner, regarding a new trail
crossing near Knolls Atomic Laboratory.
The Friends of the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail group are looking into
producing a new brochure/ newsletter with a picture of the trail. They will be meeting in late September to
discuss funding for the project.
Possible funding ideas include advertisements, corporate donations, and
raised member fees. D. Odell noted that
at the next Canalway meeting, the trail ownership/maintenance map will be
addressed. It was suggested that tax
maps be used to verify ownership. D.
Robertson noted that tax maps are often too general for this use. D. Odell noted that CDTC seems to have the
most accurate data. CDTC would like to verify the accuracy of their data and
will be bring a copy of the map to the next Canalway meeting. CDTC's map needs
to be compared with NYS OPRHP's map.
3.3 Guilderland Pathways
Committee:
L. Childs noted that the Pathways Committee is seeking information regarding
yearly budget expenditures on sidewalks in suburban towns. The Pathways Committee is also seeking
information on whether the communities construct the sidewalks with their own
crews. I. Vamos suggested that they
contact the City of Albany for the information, since
cities tend to have more sidewalk projects than towns. J. Stangle shared some of the cost estimates
the Village of Menands has received for 600 feet
of 5 foot wide sidewalk. J. Stangle
noted curb cuts, drainage, and any other type of engineering will affect the
cost. D.
Robertson suggested that L. Childs contact the City of Saratoga Springs. Several members suggested contacting towns in
NYS outside of the Capital District, but cautioned that costs may be different
outside of the Capital Region.
4.0 NEW BUSINESS
4.1 Wolf Road
Pedestrian Survey: J. Purvis noted that prior to the installation of the
countdown pedestrian crossing signals on Wolf Road,
CDTC surveyed pedestrians at 50 Wolf Road.
(The former NYSDEC building) J. Purvis
noted that CDTC was considering doing a stand-alone survey, at a different Wolf
Road crosswalk now that the signals have been
installed for some time. Many members of
the task force felt that CDTC should wait until NYSDOT Main Office occupies 50
Wolf Road before another survey is taken. However, many members, including CDTC staff
felt that it would still be beneficial to conduct a survey in the near future
even though the 50 Wolf Road
building is unoccupied, rather than waiting until it is occupied. The building will not be occupied for at
least another year. L. Childs inquired
if there is an automated way to count how many times a pedestrian crossing
signal is activated. D. Robertson did not
believe so, but agreed to check with DOT staff.
4.2 Wolf Road Countdown Signal
Consistency:
J. Purvis noted that CDTC staff has observed inconsistencies in the phases
among signals at intersections along Wolf Road. D. Robertson agreed to
look into the issue.
4.3 Trail Liability/Maintenance: J. Purvis noted that he is
researching how other regions outside of New York State are handling trail
maintenance and ownership issues. He will be meeting with Parks to discuss the
issue. D. Robertson suggested that Jason
include NYSDOT Real Estate when he meets with the Parks Department. J. Purvis
also noted that the Greenway Grant will be looking into the potential of group
entity maintenance. I. Vamos noted that maintenance contracts are due for
renewal and that trail maintenance issues are a problem statewide.
4.4 Other New business: D. Spicer noted that
NYSDOH is still awaiting announcements regarding recipients of the Healthy
Heart Grants. D. Spicer reported that
she recently attended the Pro-Bike/Pro-Walk Conference in St. Paul, where the Rochester and Binghamton MPO's
received grants for Bike/Pedestrian Planning.
K.
Kovalchik noted that the Greenway is working on a 3-year project to create
continuous linked byways, primarily for automobiles, to the Greenway and water
trails.
J.
Stangle noted that the Village of Menands Chief of Police has inquired about
funding for the Bethlehem Crosswalk program.
J. Purvis and D. Robertson noted that the Town of Bethlehem funded most of the
project. D. Spicer noted that they
received a small grant from the Health Department. Members noted that John should contact the
Town of Bethlehem for more information.
5.0 UPCOMING EVENTS
-
The next CDTC Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 7:30 p.m. at
the Village of Menands Firehouse.
Please note
that the October and November meetings will be combined.