Capital District Transportation Committee

Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force

Record of Meeting on June 8, 2000

 

 

 

Attendance: Mark Cashman (MHCC/LAB), Dom DeCecco (Private Citizen), Don Odell, (Albany County), Henrietta O'Grady (Saratoga County Heritage Trails Committee), Don Robertson (NYSDOT - Region 1), Paul Russell (Town of Colonie), Bert Schou (CDTA), Jannell Shaw (NYBC), John Stangle (Village of Menands), Katherine Forster (CDTC)

 

Regrets: Ivan Vamos

 

1.0 AGENDA AND MEETING NOTES REVIEW

 

It was eroneously reported that The Canal Trail Trek from Albany to Schenectady will be held on Saturday. In fact it will be held on Sunday, July 9th.

 

2.0 UPDATE ON ACTION ITEMS

 

(April 13, 2000)  Staff will prepare a Regional Bike-Hike map to show to the Task Force for comments at the next meeting.  (See Item 4.2)

(May 11, 2000)  B. Schou will verify the Two Guys owner's address.  John Stangle confirmed that the Two Guys property is owned by the private firm Vernando. The property manager has still not been determined.  Paul Russell is interested in getting the right people at the table and having a discussion of the big picture - getting the bike paths to connect between municipalities on the next agenda.

(May 11, 2000) CDTC staff will create a summary of the various municipalities' policies on bicycle and pedestrian accommodations. No action on this item has been done.

(May 11, 2000) CDTC staff will contact Main Office DOT to see what the status is for tracking new sidewalks and bike trails.  No action on this item has been done.

 

3.0 PROJECTS/PROGRAMS AND OTHER UPDATES

 

3.1 Bikes on Buses: CDTA will receive six bike racks next month for a pre-demo.  A route will be chosen and these racks will be available for use starting in July.  The company that makes the racks is receiving more requests than anticipated and that has delayed the delivery of the 50 racks until August.  It was decided that the sub-committee meeting to discuss permitting and the final route selection will be held at CDTC offices on June 20 at 4:30 pm.   Representatives from NYSDOT, CDTC, NYBC, MHCC will be invited.  Anyone else from the Task Force who is interested can attend also.

 

3.2 Second Chance Enhancement Program: The CDTC Planning Committee was very interested in funding more that a couple of projects and ensuring that there was some geographical coverage for the funded projects.  After much discussion it was decided that a letter would be sent out to the top priority list asking if they were still interested in being considered for the Second Chance Enhancement Program under the following criteria. 

 

If the project required less than $200,000 of federal funds than the project could be resubmitted as is.  However, if the federal request was over $200,000 than the community would have to consider either modifying the cost sharing basis to a 50% local and 50% federal share and/or reducing the scope to under $200,000 (federal).  It should be kept in mind though that if the reduction in scope significantly changes the expected benefit of the original proposal, the modified proposal will be reevaluated and its ranking among the competing proposals could change.  Those interested were asked to contact CDTC by July 14, 2000.  The Planning Committee would then aim to reach a final determination of who would receive funding by mid-September.

 

4.0 ONGOING TASKS

 

4.1 CDTC Linkages Program: CDTC staff has had some discussions with the City of Schenectady and OPRHP about events that have taken place.  The City of Schenectady has already commenced some investigating into trail route alternatives.  How the two projects will go forward will be discussed and then a scope will be written for approval by the City of Schenectady.  There is a possibility that the two projects could be combined.  The Task Force will be involved in these projects.

 

4.2 Regional Bike/Hike Map: A draft of the regional map was presented for discussion at the meeting.  Many of the longer bike and hiking trails were on the map, as well as state bike route and state and local parks.   The task force helped identify some of the missing local bike routes and other trails or items that should be on the map.  There are many mountain-bike trails in Rensselaer.  The question of how much information we could provide was asked.  It was felt that the map in its current state was not a user-friendly size.  The scale was too large for it to be used to locate bike routes and trails.  Four maps, one for each county was suggested, with blow-ups for trails or city networks.  Another suggestion was having the map available on the internet.

 

4.3 CDTC New Visions 2030 Update: The Task Force furthered their discussion on the New Visions Update.  The questions considered included: What circumstances have changed since New Visions? What issues have changed? Are we on target? And what changes are needed to New Visions?  All comments and suggestions received at this meeting from the Task Force will be incorporated into a draft report and distributed to the Task Force to review.

ACTION: CDTC STAFF

 

5.0 NEW ITEMS

 

5.1 New Hampshire Bicycle and Walk Conference: This item was deferred until July.

 

5.2 NYSDOH Conference at the Desmond: NYSDOH is holding their annual Health Professionals conference at the Desmond next week.  Mark Fenton, the editor of Walking magazine will be there for a couple of presentations, including the dinner speech and a presentation on how health professionals can get involved in promoting a more walkable environment.  He will also be holding a couple of walking tours including a walk to Wolf Road.  NYSDOT will be participating in the conference in a variety of ways.  They have helped organize the Wolf Road walk, they will have a bike/ped display and Eric Ophardt will present information on the Walk your Child to School event.

 

5.3 Clifton Park Trails Master Plan: The Town of Clifton Park has produced a Master Plan for trails.  It discusses the benefits, the Vision for Clifton Park, trail design, resources, management and maintenance and completed and proposed projects among other items.  For a copy please send your request, along with $10, to the attention of Pat Haffner, Director, Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Affairs, Town of Clifton Park, 1 Town Hall Plaza, Clifton Park 12065.  If you have any questions please call Ms. Haffner at 371-6667.

 

6.0 UPCOMING EVENTS

 

-        The next CDTC Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 12, at the CDTC office, 5 Computer Dr. West, at 4:30 p.m.

-        Sunday July 9, 2000: NYS Canal Cruise and Trek - Albany to Schenectady