[8]  Treat All Modes Fairly in the Capital Program

The original New Visions Plan called on CDTC to review and revise project evaluation criteria for capital projects as necessary to ensure that all transportation projects reflect New Visions principles, strategies and budgets.

Expected Benefits

Text Box: New Visions policies need to be applied to project evaluation criteria.A comprehensive re-examination of the project evaluation criteria used at CDTC, NYSDOT, and CDTA was identified as  a necessary implementation step in making New Visions a reality.  Benefits from so doing are seen across a variety of performance areas.  The main changes that were perceived to be needed are ones that better capture the external impacts of transportation decisions -- regional quality of life, compatibility of transportation with adjacent land use, and support for the economy.

Implications

Budgetary priorities will need to be reassessed, although there will not necessarily be an increase in resource requirements.  Because of this, a continuation of the consensus building approach of New Visions will be very important.  The Budget chapter includes more detail on priorities -- this strategy makes the connection directly to the capital program.

Actions

32) Direct transportation improvements and services to support New Visions concepts.

Text Box: The TIP is CDTC's primary implementation mechanism for New Visions.Flexible federal funding is expected to continue in coming years.  The challenge of assigning priority to competing uses of scarce resources may become greater in the future.  Future federal programs may offer greater flexibility (through block grants and expanded project eligibility) at the same time that overall federal funding levels are lowered to meet deficit reduction targets.  CDTC's Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is the vehicle through which federal highway and transit funds are assigned to particular projects.  Since adoption of the New Visions plan, CDTC has reviewed its TIP project selection procedures, including its project screening, "fact sheet" evaluation, and program development to ensure consistency with New Visions concepts.

 

New evaluation and program development approaches resulted from the review, tying the TIP strongly to the New Visions Plan and resulting in a far different set of projects than would have been the case prior to the plan's adoption.  CDTC will continue this linkage in the future.

33) Provide funding for implementation of small, cost-effective improvements.

Regional "set-asides" are currently used to provide traffic signals, pavement markings, bridge inspections, and other programs where specific locations are not determined at the time of programming.  There are several other areas where such an approach may facilitate the implementation of small, cost-effective improvements.

 

Spot Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements

 

Text Box: The 1997-2002 TIP programmed this project and CDTC earmarked funds to multiple small projects in 2000.Quick-turnaround identification and mitigation of small-scale obstacles to cycling and walking is desirable.  The City of Seattle has a program that accomplishes this.  Its Bike Spot Improvement Program uses postcards, made available to the public at bike shops, libraries and other locations, which people can send in to request anything from pavement sweeping to pothole repairs, bike racks and trail extensions.  A comparable program was established cost-effectively by CDTC.

 

Replace Street and Highway Signs to Accommodate Older Drivers

 

Older people, because of the aging process, experience visual problems related to depth perception, visual field, visual acuity and glare sensitivity.  Many of these people could continue to drive safely as they age with improvements in sign letter heights, sign reflectivity and improvements in stopping site distances.

 

A sign letter height standard of 40 feet to 1 inch (i.e. for every 40 feet of visibility distance needed to detect, read and react to a freeway guide sign, provide one inch of letter height) is needed.  The current AASHTO standard is 50 feet to one inch.  In addition, signs should be made of high performance retroreflective sheeting.  Adopting a 3.5-second perception-to-reaction time in favor of the current 2.5-second standard in determining stopping sight distances would better accommodate older drivers.

 

In 1999, CDTC programmed two projects -- one in Albany County and one in the city of Albany -- to replace all regulatory signs with those that meet these criteria.

 

Safety Concerns at High Conflict Locations

 

The regional highway inventory identifies roads with poor "Level of Compatibility".  While some of these locations will require corridor-wide planning and improvements, others could experience significant improvements with small projects.  Examples include small-scale traffic calming devices (speed tables or the like) on a residential street, turning prohibitions, and signal modifications.

 

34) Develop Class I bicycle facilities in major travel corridors of the region.

There is a need to complement on-street bicycle accommodations with bike paths in major travel corridors to support recreational bike/hike activities -- and remove those trips from the road completely.  Development of such facilities should follow an examination of potential use and collection of public input.  Depending on the areas selected and the lengths of the project, there might be needs for separate ("Class 1") bike paths, shared bike/pedestrian paths, sidewalks and/or other facilities.  In addition, accommodations "along the way," such as crosswalk markings, pedestrian signal phases and bike racks would be included. Development of completely separate facilities improves the regional bicycle and pedestrian travel environments.  The long-term goal is to have such facilities in every county in the region.