Transportation Committee
RECORD OF MEETING
WORKING GROUP B
DATE/TIME/PLACE:
ATTENDANCE: Brian Menyuk
(NYSDOT);
DISCUSSION SUMMARY:
· The report outline for
Working Group B was distributed to Working Group members prior to the meeting. Henry
Peyrebrune suggested a reorganization of the report,
concentrating on current and future needs. Henry and the working group felt that ITS is a component of the highway system, and as such, should
not be discussed as a separate subject in the report.
Several working group members did not attend the
meeting. CDTC staff will revise the
outline, incorporating the working group’s comments and send the revised
outline to the entire working group for their comment and/or approval. CDTC staff is anxious to begin the draft
report and is looking for quick turn-around on the approval of the outline.
· The NYSTA verbally presented
their long-term needs assessment for the portion of the system located in the Capital
District. Jill Ross-Schmelz will review the estimates
with NYSTA personnel and will determine if it is appropriate for publication in
the working group report.
· The New Visions description
of the ITS Priority Network was discussed.
It was agreed that the ITS Priority Network should be updated. It was suggested that I-87 north to
· Brian Menyuk
distributed NYSDOTs signal coordination/signal loop ITS
deployment plan to the working group for their review. Brian indicated that all
arterials parallel to the interstates should have signal priority
capability. Signal coordination, a less
expensive ITS tool, should be pursued in all locations and be multi-jurisdictional.
Brian also distributed a brief analysis that
addresses the feasibility and costs of ramp metering and reversible lanes. Neither of these ITS features would be easy
to implement in the Capital District. Ramp metering would require longer ramps, or
reconfiguration of the arterial leading to the ramp, at Exit 8 or 8A, for
example, on the Northway. A reversible
lane on the Northway would cost close to that of adding a lane in each
direction. A reversible lane on Route 9
would require the signalization of all minor intersections. It was concluded that these items will be
discussed in Working group B’s report, but will be left on the table as items
for further exploration and discussion.
· The Working Group reviewed
the additional MIST data that was distributed at the meeting. The working group concurred that the results
of the analysis portray real life experiences with regard to travel and
congestion. It was suggested that
anecdotal information accompany the discussion of the MIST analysis in the
final report. Chris distributed
information from the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) defining a
reliability index. The TTI reliability
index is simple and can easily be calculated from the MIST data. CDTC staff will calculate the reliability
index using MIST data and graph the results.
· “Next Steps” were discussed
by the Working Group. Essentially, a
draft report must be prepared by early fall, outlining infrastructure needs,
ITS needs and highlights of the MIST data analysis. CDTC staff will begin to draft the report and
distribute it to the Working Group prior to the next meeting. CDTC staff will meet with Bob Hansen before work
begins on the draft to gather the remaining information that is needed for the
report.
ACTION ITEMS:
· CDTC staff meet with Bob
Hansen to
discuss two additional infrastructure scenarios—one that looks at structural
replacement of some older bridges and the 787 viaducts and one that looks at
capacity needs.
·
· CDTC Staff will begin to draft the
Working Group B report.
NEXT MEETING(s):