Capital
District Transportation Committee
Bicycle
and Pedestrian Task Force
Record of
Meeting on March 11, 2008
Attendance: Audrey Ball (Town of Malta),
Wally Elton (PTNY), Ross Farrell (CDTA), Jeff Gritsavage (NYSDOT),
Amy Jesaitis (NYSDOH), Robert Leslie (Town of Bethlehem), Raj Malhotra (NYSDOT
Region 1 Planning), Kelly Mateja (Town of Colonie), Jim Mearkle (Albany County
DPW), Don Odell (ABC), Joshua Poppel (Alta Planning & Design), Dave Rettig
(NYSDOT Region 1), Nelson Ronsvalle (Town of Halfmoon), Fred Thompson (Friends
of MH), Teresa LaSalle (CDTC), Jason Purvis (CDTC)
1.0 NEW BUSINESS
1.1 Safe Routes to
School –any final questions?: J.
Purvis reminded attendees that applications are due April 1st and
that this was the last BP Task Force meeting prior to the application deadline.
Four copies of the application are requested and should be submitted to DOT.
1.2 Transportation Enhancement
Program: J. Purvis reminded
attendees that applications are available for TEP projects and
are due June 27th 2008.
MPO’s are requesting that they be able to use the same additional evaluation
method as they have used in the past.
Evaluation procedures will be on the April 2nd CDTC Planning
Committee agenda. Once approved the
evaluation information and complete solicitation package will be mailed
out. CDTC will put together an
evaluation team that will be made up of CDTC staff as well as non- project
sponsored evaluators. Two Enhancement Workshops will be held, the first will be
on Wednesday, April 16th at DOT Region 1 in Schenectady and the second will be held
on Wednesday, April 23rd at AGFTC.
Both workshops commence at 10:00 AM.
1.3 MHBHT Map
Update—discussion only:
T. LaSalle distributed a handout of changes to be made to the existing
2004 Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail Map for the 2008 update. A brief discussion followed. Some of the changes listed need to be
discussed further, while others are in-house changes that CDTC will be exploring. Some of the necessary improvements may
prohibit the completion of the 2008 update to occur for the Spring biking
season. A more realistic publication
date is Summer 2008. Any additional comments are welcome and can be submitted
to Teresa or Jason.
1.4 Set-asides for TIP: J. Purvis noted that approximately 1 Million dollars
in funding for Bike/Ped TIP Set-asides is available and applications are due
March 31st. More information is available on CDTC’s website.
1.5 Local Project Updates:
1.51 Linkage Studies
J.
Purvis noted that in March CDTC’s Policy Board approved the next round of
Linkage Projects. Two projects that have
significant Bike/Ped elements are the Albany City Bicycling Master Plan and the
Village of Altamont Bicycle
Master Plan.
1.52 Town of Colonie Pathways Plan—status
K.
Mateja noted that a public meeting will be held on Monday, March 24th
at The Crossings of Colonie at 7:00 PM. The draft plan is
available for review at www.colonie.org.
1.6 “They just don’t get it….”: No items.
1.7 Other New Business:
J.
Purvis announced that a new staff member will be joining CDTC on March 17th. Jennifer Ceponis will be joining the
staff as a Transportation Planner.
Jennifer is coming to CDTC from Edwards and Kelcey.
J.
Purvis noted that the NYS MPO Bicycle/Pedestrian staff working group will be
meeting on March 18th at the CDTC offices.
J. Purvis reported that DOT is looking
into developing a statewide bicycle map.
D.
Rettig shared DOT’s concerns regarding CDTC’s Bike/Ped Priority Network and the
prioritization of particular bike/ped routes relative to transit routes. J. Purvis and other Task Force members
provided some background on the development of the network, as well as the
recent initiative to enhance and strengthen the existing network, including
data collection and pedestrian buffers.
3.0 UPCOMING EVENTS
The next CDTC Bicycle and Pedestrian
Task Force meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8, 2008 4:30 p.m. at the CDTC Offices.