CAPITAL DISTRICT TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes
MEMBERS ATTENDING
Michael Breslin,
Steve Feeney, representing
Susan Savage,
Robert Hansen,
representing Mary Ivey, NYS Department of
Transportation Region 1
Charles Houghtaling,
Terry Hurley, Albany Port
District Commission
Steve Iachetta,
representing John O’Donnell,
Airport Authority
Mayor Gerald Jennings,
City of
Arthur Johnson,
Joe Landry,
Paula Mahan, Town of
Mayor Michael Manning,
City of
Mayor John T. McDonald
III, City of
Raymond Melleady, Capital
District Transportation Authority,
Vice-Chairman
Thomas Richardson, City of
William
Rinaldi, NYS Thruway Authority
William
Roehr, representing Mayor Harry Tutunjian, City of
Michael
Stammel, Capital District Regional Planning Commission Steve Tommasone, Town of
Mayor Harry Tutunjian,
City of
Thomas Werner,
Jim Arey, Elmira-Chemung Transportation Council
Richard Beers,
Mark Debald,
Michael Franchini,
Dave Jukins, Capital District Transportation Committee
Joe LaCivita, Town of
Michael McGlynn, Interested Citizen
Peter Melewski, Bergmann Associates
Doug Melnick, City of
Sandra Misiewicz, Capital District Transportation
Committee
Elizabeth Novak, NYS Thruway Authority
Dennis O’Malley, Regional Operations Group
Christopher O’Neill, Capital District Transportation
Committee
Jeff Olsen, Alta Planning
John Poorman, Capital District Transportation Committee
Glenn Posca, Capital District Transportation Committee
Deirdre Rudolph, City of
Joe Sagale, Resource Systems Group
Deb
Stacey, Capital District Transportation
Committee
Ken
Williams, Interested Citizen
Cathy
Woodruf,
Eoin
Wrafter,
Council
Mike
Wyatt, NYS Department of Transportation
OPENING REMARKS
Chairman
McDonald opened the Capital District Transportation Committee meeting at
ADMINISTRATION
Art
Johnson from the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors attended the March 5th
meeting, but is not included in the list of attendees. Members approved the
Administrative & Financial Standing
Subcommittee Report
CDTC’s
office space lease has been renewed for a five year term.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR
Chairman McDonald
indicated that CDTC provides an opportunity for visitors to address items on
the agenda. Kenneth Williams, a CDTA rider addressed the board. Mr. Williams is concerned that the
implementation of BRT on the Route 5 Corridor is moving too slowly and is
anxious to see the new BRT system in place.
Mike McGlynn, a resident
of Watervliet voiced his concern that not enough is being done for Job Access, particularly
in a climate where many more jobs will likely be created as a result of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Mr. McGlynn noted that the Coordinated Plan
for the Capital District has not been updated since 2007. Mr. McGlynn suggested that the board send
letters to congress to ask for an increase in funding for the JARC and New
Freedom Program.
CDTA PRESENTATION—NORTH/SOUTH
TRANSIT CORRIDOR STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS
Kristina Younger and Ray
Melleady provided a summary of the North/South Transit Corridor Study Action
Plan. This study was commissioned by the
High Speed Rail Task Force and looked at existing and potential future transit
travel markets along the north/south corridors throughout
· Bus or rail solutions along I‐87 from
· Bus or rail solutions along
US Route 9 from
· Bus or rail solutions along
the
· Rail (LRT or commuter rail)
from
· Rail (LRT or commuter rail)
from
The consultants considered a
spectrum of BRT systems and looked at the market potential using CDTC’s New
Visions alternative growth future scenarios.
The reported concluded that:
· With the possible exception
of the CPR Corridor, due to the relatively low return on ridership for a high
transit investment, light rail should be deferred from consideration at this time
for transit technologies in the North–South Corridors.
· For the US 9 and I‐87 corridors, improvements to
the existing NX Service and local bus services appear to be sufficient to meet
future demand. Managed lanes would be an option to prioritize transit.
· The River Corridor appears to
have high potential benefits. Existing transit in this corridor enjoys high
ridership, and transit improvements could reach new markets.
AMERICAN RECOVERY AND
REINVESTMENT ACT
Stimulus Funding Report
Mr.
Poorman noted that the Planning Committee met on three separate occasions to
put together a well thought out, solid response to the call for projects under
the ARRA. The emphasis was to commit to
projects that are most likely to spend the money in the short term. The Planning Committee embraced a policy to
endorse any project on the TIP as long as it can be advanced in the time frame
specified by the ARRA. The process was unique
in that local system projects are emphasized. This has brought the attention of the GAO to
CDTC, because we have been able to move projects faster than others,
nationwide. A table summarizing the
proposed projects was distributed. It
was noted that the Spring Run Trail and Zim Smith Trail projects were
erroneously omitted from the table.
Questions
about the
Report to CDTC Policy Board (TIP Amendments A-I)
Mr.
Poorman directed member attention to the list of ten proposed amendments to the
TIP that was previously distributed. These amendments are needed to submit
these projects for ARRA funding. Mr. Poorman briefly reviewed the projects
identified in the table.
Resolution Certifying the
Project Selection Criteria
John
Poorman described the project selection criterion that was used to identify
candidate projects for ARRA funding. These
are summarized in the previously distributed MOU. Members approved the MOU.
TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT
PROGRAM AMENDMENTS
Amendments A-J
These
amendments were discussed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
heading. Members approved the amendments
listed in items A-I. NYSDOT provide
information on TIP Amendments J and K.
Members approved these amendments.
TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE REPORT
John Poorman reported that CDTC staff, CDTA, NYDSOT
R-1 and Planning Committee members have initiated the TIP update and the update,
under normal circumstances, would have been finalized at this meeting. Discussions regarding options regarding how
to proceed with the TIP update have been taking place. Many of the MPO’s across
the state have decided to skip this year’s update, delaying the update for
another year. CDTC was already well into
the TIP update when the federal stimulus and other issues prevented the
completion of the update. Since all of
this work was completed, it is recommended that CDTC complete the update as an
amendment to the existing TIP. The
SAFETEA-LU legislation expires at the end of September, and future funding
allocations are purely speculative.
STATUS OF PLANNING
Terry Hurley reported the Port is continuing Phase
1 of dock and wharf improvements.
CDTA
CDTA’s priority is the Route 5 BRT project. This project is moving along at a steady
pace. CDTA recently received additional
Hybrid-Electric Buses and is placing them in service as they are received.
The
CDTC
Staff
The NYS MPO Annual Conference
is being held today and tomorrow. Staff
is working with CDRPC staff and others to bring the New Visions 2030 Plan to
the next step. Several new Linkage
Studies will begin shortly.
ADJOURNMENT
There
being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately
Respectfully
submitted,
John
P. Poorman
Acting
Secretary