[s1]CAPITAL
DISTRICT TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes
MEMBERS ATTENDING
Rocky Ferraro,
representing Michael Stammel, Capital District
Regional Planning Commission
Michael Franchini,
representing Michael Breslin,
Mayor James Gaughan,
Terry Hurley, Albany Port
District Commission
Steve Iachetta,
representing John O, Donnell,
Airport Authority
Mary Ivey, NYS Department
of Transportation Region 1, Secretary
Mayor Scott Johnson, City
of
Andrew
Kreshik, representing Mayor Harry Tutunjian, City of
Joseph LaCivita,
representing Paula Mahan, Town of
Mayor John T. McDonald
Rosemary Nichols,
representing Mayor Michael Manning, City of
Deirdre Rudolph,
representing Mayor Gerald Jennings, City of
Phil Serafino,
representing William Rinaldi, NYS Thruway
Authority
Ann
Shaughnessy, representing Martin Reid,
Linda von der Heide,
representing Kathleen Jimino,
County
Tom Werner,
Kristina Younger,
representing Carm Basile, Capital District
Transportation Authority
Bob Hansen, NYS Department of Transportation
Dave Jukins, Capital District Transportation Committee
Sandra Misiewicz, Capital District Transportation
Committee
Christopher O’Neill, Capital District Transportation
Committee
Omar Peters, Capital District Transportation Committee
John Poorman, Capital District Transportation Committee
OPENING REMARKS
Chairman McDonald opened the
Capital District Transportation Committee meeting at
ADMINISTRATION
Members
approved the
Administrative & Financial Standing
Subcommittee Report
The Administrative &
Financial Standing Subcommittee has not met since February. There is a significant cash flow issue for
CDTA as CDTC’s host, however, due to the lack of a state budget. The NYSDOT Main Office is currently able to
pay CDTC’s bills with older Federal grant monies, but will not be able to do so
in the longer term. An A & F meeting
will be held in August to discuss these issues and review candidates for the
Fred Field Award.
Draft CDTC Operations Plan (Prospectus)
CDTC’s Planning Committee recommended
that the first two chapters of the Prospectus be passed on to the Policy Board
for approval, recognizing that the third and final section of the document will
not be complete for a few months. The
first chapter provides a description of CDTC and its planning approach. The second chapter elaborates on committee
practices, membership and agreements between the MPO and NYSDOT and CDTA. The third chapter will identify existing commitments
and CDTC’s financial future. Board
members approved the first two chapters of the Prospectus.
Self-Certification of CDTC’s Planning Process
CDTC must annually certify
that the MPO is conducting an open, responsive, comprehensive process and is
complying with SAFETEA-LU requirements.
A formal federal certification is conducted every fourth year; in other
years, CDTC must complete a self certification.
The 2010 Certification details were included in the mailing and are
posted on CDTC’s website. CDTC Policy Board approval of a self certification resolution
is required during the adoption of the Transportation Improvement Program. Members approved the Self Certification Resolution.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR
Chairman McDonald
indicated that CDTC provides an opportunity for visitors to address items on
the agenda. No one registered to address the board members today.
2007-12 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM AMENDMENTS
SA266 & SA267 Pavement Management Projects at Saratoga
National Park— These Pavement
Management Projects are funded by Federal Lands Highway Program monies, a
non-competitive fund source. However,
these projects must be added to the 2007-12 TIP to move forward. Members approved the addition of these
projects to the 2007-12 TIP.
2010-15 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
Changes to the Draft 2010-15 Project Listings
Approved by the Planning Committee
The Planning Committee
approved changes to CMAQ programming and made some other adjustments to the
TIP. These are summarized in member’s packets. Policy Board members approved these changes.
Changes to the Draft 2010-15 Project Listings Not
Approved by the Planning Committee
As described in member’s
packets, edits to Summary Table 1 and Figure 1 were made since the Planning Committee last met.
Approval of the Draft 2010-15 Transportation Improvement
Program
John Poorman provided a
synopsis of programming activities that occurred to get to the current draft
TIP. These activities are summarized in
pages 5-15 of the 2010-15 TIP. Briefly,
during Round 1 programming, $71M was programmed, mostly for highway
projects. Top ranked projects were
selected for funding under Round 1.
During Round 2, three safety projects were programmed and members
approved funding for several set-asides (ADA, Spot Improvement, Linkage
Transition Engineering and Bridges). Planning
Committee Members will continue discussions in July, working with a target of
roughly half of the remaining Round 2 funds for pavement & bridge projects,
and the balance for other groups of project categories. A minimum of $20M will be placed in the
pavement and bridge category.
Before the TIP can be formally incorporated into the
statewide STIP, an Air Quality Conformity Analysis must be completed. The Conformity Analysis is coordinated with
the Air Quality Interagency Consultation Group (ICG). Chris O’Neill has been working closely with
this group and expects that the analysis will be complete within the next
week. The Policy Board was asked to
delegate final approval of the conformity analysis to the Planning Committee. A 30 day review period is required once the
conformity is complete and approved.
Members asked a few questions about the TIP
projects. Mayor Gaughan repeated his
sentiment that small communities are screened out of the Project Selection Process. John Poorman reminded the Mayor and others
that Round 2 programming (which is not yet complete) is structured to resolve that
type of issue.
Members approved the resolution adopting the 2010-15 Transportation
Improvement Program and authorized staff to submit the first four years of the
TIP to NYSDOT for incorporation into the STIP.
Members also took action to allow the Planning Committee to approve the
Conformity Analysis once it is complete.
STATUS OF PLANNING
Terry Hurley reported the Port that the dock and
wharf improvements should be complete by the end of 2010.
CDTA
CDTA rolled out major service changes in Schenectady
at the end of May. Nine routes were
consolidated into five much more efficient routes. CDTA has adopted a balanced budget and will
not be asking for a fare increase. CDTA
partnered with CDTC to provide free bike
racks (up to $1000) to the public sector and non-profits and provides a 50/50
cost sharing arrangement for bike racks for the private sector. Seventy-seven applications were approved for
335 bike racks (totaling $50,000). About
900 additional bicycle parking spaces will be created as a result of this
program. About 40,000 bikes were loaded
on CDTA bus bike racks in the past year.
NYSDOT
The 9P project will begin after Labor Day and
should be completed by Memorial Day next year. The Champlain Bridge has been
let and awarded; a new bridge should be in place by October 2011. The Batchellerville Bridge Project was let in
May; no awards have been made yet. The
Northway Exit 6 project continues to move forward.
Albany
Airport Authority
A $2M project is out for bid for taxiway
improvements. The Latham Water Tank project, paid for by Federal ARRA funds is
on schedule and under budget. Annual enplanements
are holding steady at 2.6 million.
CDTC
The NYS MPO Conference
will be held in Syracuse June 14-15th. CDTC staff is involved in a joint effort with
NYSDOT Region 1 to conduct a consultant study of the US 9/I-87 Corridor. An RFQ was recently circulated. CDTC Staff has pioneered the Capital Co-Exist
Campaign. A new website and promotional
materials have been developed for this effort.
The region’s vanpool pilot, funded mostly through a NYSERDA/NYSDOT grant
has some recent success; a total of 10 vanpools will be on the road by July.
Albany County
Mike
Franchini reported that with the support of the College of Nanoscale Science
and Engineering ($10M) and increased funding from NYSDOT, the funding package
for the construction of the $22M roundabout at the intersection of Fuller Road
and Washington Avenue Extension is now complete. The preliminary design for this project would
grade separate the intersection, placing WAE on a bridge over a 2 lane
roundabout. The entire intersection
would be moved to the north, which would accommodate the College of Nanoscale
Science and Engineering’s desire to expand their complex by adding three
buildings. Albany Nanotech owns the land
surrounding this intersection. Public
meetings are being scheduled.
City of Watervliet
The city is completing
their first ever Comprehensive Plan. The
city is using New Freedom funds to establish shuttle service for mobility
impaired seniors and individuals, which will connect the city and Green Island residents
to major attractions in the city. The
shuttle will also connect to CDTA’s fixed route system. The vehicle will be delivered shortly and a
logo was developed by a local High School student as a result of an art
contest. The service will begin in July.
ADJOURNMENT
There
being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:20 pm. The next meeting is scheduled for 3:00 pm,
Thursday September 2, 2010.
Respectfully
submitted,
Mary
E. Ivey
Secretary