PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING
Meeting Minutes
Melissa Ashline-Heil, City of
Bradley Birge, City of
Frank Bonafide, NYS Department of Transportation Region
1
Paul Cassillo. City of
Robert Cherry, NYS Department of Transportation Region 1
Peter Comenzo, Town of
Sarah Crowell, City of
Michael Franchini,
Steve Iachetta,
Andrew Kreshik, City of
Joseph LaCivita, Town of
Patrick McCarroll, representing Michael Loftus, NYS
Thruway
Authority
Barbara McHugh, Town of
Mike Morelli, Town of
Rosemary Nichols, City of
John P. Poorman, Capital District Transportation
Committee
(Secretary)
Paul Reuss,
Dede Rudolph, City of
Joe Teliska, representing Wayne Bonesteel,
Tony Tozzi, Town of
Mike Valentine,
Kristina Younger, Capital District Transportation
Authority
(Vice-Chair)
STAFF AND
OTHERS
Ann Benware, Capital District Transportation Committee
Jennifer Ceponis, Capital District Transportation
Committee
Joe Cimino,
Shelly Johnston, Creighton Manning
David Jukins, Capital District Transportation Committee
Monica King, Town of
Teresa LaSalle, Capital District Transportation
Committee
Sandra Misiewicz, Capital District Transportation
Committee
Larry Mulvaney, NYS Department of Transportation Region
1
Tom Murley, Town of
Chris O’Neill, Capital District Transportation Committee
Glenn Posca, Capital District Transportation Committee
Heidi Romines, NYS Department of Transportation Region 1
John Stangle,
Carrie Ward, Capital District Transportation Authority
Mike Wieszchowski, Laberge Group
Karen Williams, NYS Department of Transportation Region
1
VISITORS ISSUES
Chairman Franchini opened the meeting at approximately
PRESENTATATIONS
Kristina Younger gave a presentation on the CDTA Route
Performance Report. The report documents
ridership and productivity, previous service changes and plans for next year’s
service changes. CDTA’s routes are
classified into the following categories: trunk, express, neighborhood, shuttles
and rural. Major service changes have
been successful and include the
Improvements to BusPlus are expected in the fall of 2011
and include: queue jumpers at
ACTION ITEMS
ADMINISTRATION
Approval
of the
Several changes were noted for the July 6th meeting
notes as written. Mike Morelli commented
that Rob Leslie should be shown as having represented the Town of
TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
Proposed Offsets to Maintain Fiscal Constraint
Frank Bonafide explained that NYSDOT
Region One staff and CDTC staff have been working to produce a list of projects
requiring offsets for the STIP and a list of projects that may be able to
provide those offsets. A list of changes from the mail out were discussed that
did not require Planning Committee action.
Three projects required Planning Committee action to reduce funding:
Stewart Dam Road, South Troy Industrial Park and Erie Boulevard. The changes to these projects, as presented
in the mail out, were approved by Committee members.
Frank Bonafide explained that these
efforts are in response to a new level of scrutiny by FHWA and are needed to
make sure that funds are not left on the table and potentially lost. Greater oversight and attentiveness to
projects is needed by all.
Glenn Posca explained that additional
project funding changes may be required to prevent leaving money on the table
before the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30. But since the next Planning Committee is in
October, after the end of the federal fiscal year, it would not be feasible to
come back to the Planning Committee in time.
After discussion, a motion was made to authorize any TIP/ STIP amendment
to be made as necessary by staff to preserve resources, with actual project
issues to come back to the Planning Committee for ratification. The motion was approved by Committee members.
Request by the Town of Bethlehem to Remove the Cost Cap
on Existing Safety Projects: A502 Meads Lane/Van Dyke Road Intersection
Mike Morelli explained that the
Meads Lane Van Dyke Road intersection has many difficult features including a
15% grade and difficult turning geometry.
Vehicles, especially school buses, avoid the intersection. Monica King also presented information about
the project. Originally the Town of
Bethlehem intended to develop this project with in house resources, but the
Town has decided to use consultant assistance in developing this project. Unanticipated environmental issues will need
to be addressed.
Planning Committee members first
addressed the cap on safety projects. When
this project was originally added to the TIP as a safety project, the Planning
Committee decided to require a cap on safety projects to encourage smaller
safety projects. Some of the projects
were subsequently determined to be ineligible for safety funding. There was a
motion to remove the cap for all safety program projects, and to require all
safety projects that request an increase in funding over the cap to be evaluated
by the Planning Committee, even if the project would otherwise not need a TIP
amendment. The motion was approved by
Committee members.
After the cap was removed, there was
discussion suggesting that a TIP amendment was not needed immediately, given
the number of funding issues that need to be addressed on the TIP in the coming
months. There was a motion to defer
action on the TIP amendment for this project until an update can be prepared on
other safety projects previously capped.
The motion was approved by Committee members. Staff was directed to prepare appropriate
information on this topic for the Planning Committee.
R240 (1755.20) Brookside Avenue over Wynantskill
R198 (1754.70) New Sidewalks on the east side of
Brookside Avenue
The above two items were presented
and discussed together. Tom Murley
presented information about both projects.
The bridge is in bad shape and needs replacement. The sidewalk is very important for
connectivity. The current proposed TIP
Amendment retains the original scope and will construct a flush sidewalk
without any curbing, drainage or road paving work. The sidewalk was considered to be equivalent
in scope to the asphalt treatment originally mentioned in the TIP.
Because an offset for the bridge
project had been identified as requested, the Committee made a motion to
approve the bridge project (R240) amendment.
The motion was approved by Committee members.
Glenn Posca explained that if the
current amendment for the sidewalk project would not change the scope, Planning
Committee action would not be required for the level of funding changes being
requested, based on TIP amendment guidelines.
A motion was made to approve the amendment for the sidewalk project
(R198) as presented. The motion was
approved by Committee members.
SA256 (1935.61), Canadian Pacific Railway’s Ballston Spa
Siding
This item was discussed, but no
Planning Committee action was required.
Rail stimulus funds were added to the TIP pending approval from
FRA. The amount approved is lower than
the TIP amount.
NYSDOT Proposal to Delay Engineering for Projects Added
to the 2010-15 Update
Frank Bonafide explained that Region
1 is proposing to move preliminary design funds for new projects that were added
to the TIP during the 2010-15 TIP update, as described in the mail out. The rationale is that funding expectations
are currently much lower than was anticipated.
Beginning engineering work on a project when anticipated funding is not
available in the five year program could raise false expectations.
John Poorman explained that CDTC is
still committed to the projects in the TIP, but that if funding is less than
expected, the new projects may have to be delayed to the post five year period. One option could be for individual project
sponsors to initiate projects with their own funding. No action was taken on this item.
TIP Update Discussion
John Poorman reported that discussions
are taking place with NYSDOT regarding how best to deal with anticipated
funding levels and the TIP. There is
great uncertainty over what Congress will do regarding a new transportation
bill. NYSDOT Main Office would prefer
that the MPOs not do a formal TIP update, but instead have the MPOs update the
existing TIPs with individual project amendments to reflect current anticipated
funding levels. CDTC staff feels that
this approach would be burdensome and would prefer to have CDTC amend projects
as they are ready and manage the program dynamically on a month to month
basis. Discussions are continuing.
Federal Transportation Bill Reauthorization Report
John Poorman reported that both the
House and the Senate have produced outlines of transportation bills. The House proposal would reduce funding,
while the Senate proposal would maintain existing funding levels for two
years.
New TDM
Initiative for 2011: Capital Region Car Share
Jen Ceponis reported on this initiative. A Summit was organized in May 2011 to discuss
the concept of car sharing in the Capital Region. In response to the feedback received, an RFQ
for planning services to start a car sharing operation in the Capital region is
being prepared and is anticipated to be released in August 2011. The study will be funded through a regional
TDM set-aside administered by CDTA. The
project has a budget of $5,000 for planning services.
Adjournment
There being no time to complete the remaining items on
the agenda, the meeting was adjourned at 12:35 PM. The A & F meeting has been postponed. The next Planning Committee meeting is
scheduled for October 5, 2011. The next Policy Board Meeting is scheduled
for September 1, 2011.
Respectfully submitted,
John P. Poorman