Capital
District Transportation Committee
Bicycle
and Pedestrian Task Force
Record of
Meeting on
Attendance: Kevin McLaughlin (HRV
Greenway), Don Odell (Albany County EDC&P), Don Robertson (NYSDOT - Region
1), Janell Shaw (New York Bicycling Coalition), Ivan Vamos (NYBC), Katherine Forster (CDTC)
Regrets: Bert Schou
1.0 AGENDA AND MEETING NOTES REVIEW
There
were no changes to the February Task Force meeting notes.
2.0 UPDATE ON ACTION ITEMS
(October 26, 1999) P. Russell will bring a map re: proposed bike path from Schuyler Flats to the next meeting. (See Item 3.1)
(February 10, 2000) In regards to the Livingston Avenue Bridge, Ivan Vamos,
will speak to Ted Thompson (NYSDOT) to see if the pedestrian component can be
added to the contract. I. Vamos spoke to T. Thompson.
Copies of his letters to the New York State senators were circulated.
(February 10, 2000) B. Schou requested that the members of the Task Force submit their preferred routes to him in the next week. (See Item 3.2)
3.0 PROJECTS/PROGRAMS AND OTHER UPDATES
3.1 Schuyler Flats Bike Trail: Discussion on the proposed
bike trail was deferred until the April meeting. I. Vamos circulated
a copy of the "Schuyler Flats Management and Development Plan" for
Task Force members to review. This plan
was done last year and proposes site improvements that include: parking,
trails, community gardens, historic attributes, picnicking facilities and
wildlife/vegetation overlook areas.
3.2
Bikes on Buses: B. Schou
received the submissions from Task Force members on their preferred
routes. D. Odell will submit his early
next week. B. Schou
will then amalgamate the lists into one master list and meet with CDTA and CDTC
to discuss the preferred bus routes.
3.3 Spot Improvement Program: CDTC received seventeen
applications for this program. The
proposals were for pedestrian crossings, curb cuts, missing sidewalks,
multi-use trail extensions, bicycle signage, benches, bike-racks and trail
repairs. CDTC received nine projects
from Albany, five from Saratoga, three from Schenectady and none from
Rensselaer. 5 projects were over
$40,000, 6 were for around $5000. The
selection committee will be reviewing the projects and will meet to prepare a
list of recommended projects to fund for the CDTC Planning Committee's meeting
of April 5, 2000. I. Vamos
suggested that a screening process be used to rate the projects. The selection committee will be using certain
criteria as noted in the call letter that went out to the municipalities.
Bob
Viti at Main Office DOT told CDTC staff that the
Statewide Advisory Committee for the TEA-21 Enhancement program will meet on
February 29 and that they will prepare the recommended list at that
meeting.
CDTC
staff circulated some information on the TEA-21 Enhancement program found on
the internet at www.enhancements.org/funding.html. It shows how much was pro-grammed,
obligated and reimbursed in the program.
As of June 1998, only 19 states met FHWA's
1997 challenge to bring all 50 states' obligation rates over 75%. New York State is one of them. New York State is ranked in the top ten
states for both programming and obligations.
Thirty-four percent of the projects in this state have been reimbursed.
4.0 ONGOING TASKS
4.2
Regional
Bike/Hike Map:
CDTC staff has received digitized data for the state bike routes, the Taconic
Trail, and the Long Path. The Pine Bush
Commission is in the process of getting their trail coverage digitized. Identifying all the marked bike lanes in the
region is the next priority. The Task
Force helped list the bike lanes in the region that they were aware of: Western
Avenue, the on-road portion of the Mohawk-Hudson Bike Hike trail in Cohoes, and
on SUNY Campus. These and any other bike
lanes will be shown on the map.
5.1 Wolf Rd. Open House: Two staff from CDTC went to
the Open House. I. Vamos
and members of the MHCC also attended.
The open house included access management information and the design
drawings of Wolf Rd. from Central to Albany-Shaker Road (including sidewalks and intersection
changes). CDTC staff talked to the
project manager about the proposed bicycle accommodations and other details
about the project.
I. Vamos submitted written comments to NYSDOT. CDTC is hoping to have a meeting with NYSDOT
regarding some suggested changes but will also send written comments.
There
is an unsignalized mid-block crossing proposed near
the new Red Lobster. This is the type of
location that could be used to test the new "Smart" crosswalks. They use an in-pavement warning system and
flashing lights to warn drivers that a pedestrian is in the crosswalk. Region 8 has implemented one of these
mid-block crosswalks near Marist College.
The difficulties they are encountering are lights that are too bright
and lights breaking when the snowplows clear the roads.
K. McLoughlin mentioned that medians were recommended in Dutchess County for retrofitting. He will send a letter to John Bassett the
project manager of Wolf Rd.
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NYSDOH is sponsoring an event at the Desmond in June. The editor of Walking magazine will be
speaking.