PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING
Meeting Minutes
Bradley Birge, City of
Wayne Bonesteel, representing
Fred Howard,
Frank Commisso,
Albany Port District Commission
Steve
Feeney,
Michael Franchini,
Bruce Hidley, representing
Kate Maynard, Town of
Mike Morelli, Town of
Marybeth Pettit, City of
John Poorman, Capital District Transportation Committee
Paul Reuss,
Tom Richardson, City of
Bill Roehr, City of
Tony Tozzi,
Town of
Michael Valentine,
Steve Watts, Town of
STAFF
Frank Bonafide, NYS Department of Transportation Region
1
Stephen Caruso, City of
Joe Cimino,
David P. Jukins, Capital District Transportation
Committee
Christine Marshall,
Sandra Misiewicz, Capital
District Transportation Committee
Sree Nampoothiri, Capital District Transportation Committee
Jennifer Viggiani,
Town of
Mike Wieszchowski,
Laberge Group
VISITORS ISSUES
Chairman Franchini opened the meeting at approximately
Action Items
ADMINISTRATION
Approval
of the
The meeting notes from the August 5th meeting
were approved with two modifications. Bob Hansen noted that the discussion on
page two regarding the auditing of ARRA projects should have read, “federal auditing committee”, not “state auditing committee”.
The second correction dealt with the discussion on page 5 regarding the
UNIFIED PLANNING
Amendment
to the 2008-10 UPWP
NYSDOT requested a UPWP revision transferring $400,000
in
2010-11
Linkage Solicitation
2010-12
UPWP
John Poorman indicated that staff will be working on a
new UPWP in the upcoming weeks.
Activities will be dependent on funding levels. CDTC will prepare
several documents for Planning Committee review –the revised formal agreement
between CDTC, CDTA and NYSDOT; CDTC’s Formal Operating Procedures and CDTC’s
Prospectus. John asked members for ideas
on new UPWP tasks.
AMERICAN RECOVERY
CDTC/NYSDOT
Report on Project Implementation
Bob Hansen reported that all but eight of the ARRA
highway projects have been let. Many of
the bids are coming in lower than expected, accounting for almost $5M in
savings. Given this “savings”, the
TIGER
Project Certification
Dave Jukins drafted letters to the USDOT that stated
that CDTC would present the Rail Freight Restoration Project and the Selkirk
Rail By-Pass project for addition to the TIP if USDOT selects these projects for
funding. Members concurred with the letter.
TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT
PROGRAM AMENDMENTS
SA220—Stewart
T75
Transit Signal Priority—CDTA received a cost
estimate for project T75 that is significantly higher than the estimate that
appeared on the TIP. This work needs to
proceed because it is an integral step for
Troy-Menands
Bridge Pedestrian and Bicycle Access—This project provides an important bike/ped
connection over the
RG1
Drawdown on Park and Ride Lots—Many of the agreements for region’s Park and Ride lots are
“handshake” deals, which creates uncertainty for future use. There is no formal agreement for the use of
the Exit 15 Park and Ride lot. This Park and Ride lot is heavily used; 8 NX
runs serve the lot, as does the
Discussion Items
2009-14 TRANSPORTATION
IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE
Project
Justification Package Report
CDTC staff held PJP workshops in all four counties over
the last two weeks. Attendance was
modest but the workshops were considered to be a success. Those who attended expressed appreciation for
the opportunity to take part in the workshops.
Screening
and Merit Evaluation
John Poorman distributed a two page document entitled,
“2010-15 TIP: Discussion items for Possible Action”. John reviewed each of the fourteen items on
the handout. These issues will have to be
fleshed out at upcoming meetings. John
advised members to review the list in preparation for deciding how to proceed
with screening and merit evaluation for upcoming TIP solicitations.
Reauthorization
Update
There has been no definitive information about
reauthorization. One proposal would
extend the current bill for three months, another for 18 months. In the meantime, rescission targets have been
announced, and the rescissions will create a huge financial burden and impact
many transportation projects.
Bids and
Lettings
NYSDOT distributed a list of Bids and Lettings. Two
projects were let—one in August and one in September. The
STATUS OF PLANNING
CDTC
CDTA
Carm Basile has been named as the
new Executive Director of CDTA, replacing Ray Melleady.
CDTA has been evaluating ridership trends, since the fare was increased in
April. Ridership has declined, but it is
difficult to pin the decline solely to the fare increase. The prevalence of
bikes on buses has increased 5 fold, indicating that people are avoiding the
transfer fee and getting to the mainline by bike. Fuel prices, weather, the job market and the
economy all play a part in the ridership decline.
The red checkered water tank at exit 6 is being
replaced. The airport received stimulus
funds for this project; only two airports in NYS received stimulus funding, the
other being JFK. The airport “hosted”
the president when he came to town on Air Force One in September. Steve circulated photos.
CDRPC
CDRPC is working on identifying analysis geographies for
Census data summaries using the American Community Survey (
OTHER
There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned
at
Respectfully submitted,