PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING

Meeting Minutes

February 3, 2010

 

 

 

MEMBERS ATTENDING

 

Melissa Ashline-Heil, City of Cohoes

Bradley Birge, City of Saratoga Springs

Wayne Bonesteel, Rensselaer County

Paul Cassillo, City of Schenectady

Peter Comenzo, Town of Rotterdam

Frank Commisso, Albany Port District Commission

Kevin Corcoran, Town of Glenville

Steve Feeney, Schenectady County

Rocky Ferraro, Capital District Regional Planning Commission

Michael Franchini, Albany County (Chairman)

Robert Hansen, NYS Department of Transportation Region 1

Steve Iachetta, Albany County Airport Authority

Joe LaCivita, Town of Colonie

Kate Maynard, Town of Wilton

Barb McHugh, Town of Clifton Park

Mike Morelli, Town of Bethlehem

Rosemary Nichols, City of Watervliet

Marybeth Pettit, City of Rensselaer

John Poorman, Capital District Transportation Committee

Paul Reuss, Village of Menands

Tom Richardson, City of Mechanicville

Jim Rivers, representing Bill Roehr, City of Troy

Deidre Rudolph, City of Albany

Phil Serafino, representing Bill Rinaldi, NYS Thruway Authority

Michael Valentine, Saratoga County

Steve Watts, Town of Halfmoon

Kristina Younger, Capital District Transportation Authority (Vice-Chair)

 

 

STAFF AND OTHERS

 

Anne Benware, Capital District Transportation Committee

Frank Bonafide, NYS Department of Transportation Region 1

Jen Ceponis, Capital District Transportation Committee

Rob Cherry, NYS Department of Transportation

Natalie Cook, CDTC Intern

Mayor Jim Gaughan, Village of Altamont

John Hammer, Interested Citizen

Shelly Johnston, Creighton Manning Association

David P. Jukins, Capital District Transportation Committee

Andrew Kreshik, City of Troy

Fred Mastroianni, Greenman-Pederson Inc

Maryanne Mariotti, NYS Department of Transportation Region 1

Christine Marshall, Interested Citizen

Sandra Misiewicz, Capital District Transportation Committee

Larry Mulvaney, NYS Department of Transportation, Region 1

Sree Nampoothiri, Capital District Transportation Committee

Christopher O’Neill, Capital District Transportation Committee

Phil Pearson, Interested Citizen

Glenn Posca, Capital District Transportation Committee

Jason Purvis, Capital District Transportation Committee

Deb Stacey, Capital District Transportation Committee

Edward Tremblay, City of Cohoes

Mathew Veitch, Saratoga County Supervisor for Saratoga Springs

Lindsay Zefting, Bergmann Associates

Gary Zeh, Town of Rensselaer

 

VISITORS ISSUES

 

Chairman Franchini opened the meeting at approximately 9:35 am.  John Hammer a resident of the City of Albany addressed the committee.  Mr. Hammer voiced concern that the Madison Avenue project proposed by the City of Albany for inclusion in the 2010-15 TIP, as written, could have scored higher, had it included plans for a road diet.  Mr. Hammer referenced other studies that have shown that a road diet treatment decreases crashes by up to 25% and increases nearby property values.  Mr. Hammer suggested that the Madison Avenue project be re-evaluated using a road diet design.

 

Mathew Veitch, Saratoga County Supervisor for Saratoga Springs, addressed the committee regarding the Geyser Road Trail Project.  Me. Veitch stated that the trail is a much needed component of the existing trail network in the city, and would serve the Geyser Crest neighborhood, the Saratoga Springs High school and the Saratoga YMCA.  Mr. Veitch asked the committee to consider funding this important project.

 

Phil Pearson addressed the Committee.  He asked the Committee to support the Route 85 project in the Town of Rensselaerville.

 

Mayor Gaughan from the Village of Altamont also addressed the Committee.  He voiced concern that projects from the smaller municipalities in the region would not score well against those submitted from larger entities and asked that the scoring criteria for TIP projects be changed to give smaller municipalities a “fair” evaluation.

 

Mr. Franchini thanked today’s visitors for their comments.

 

 

 

ACTION ITEMS

 

ADMINISTRATION

 

Approval of the January 20, 2010 Meeting Minutes

 

Members approved the January 20th meeting minutes as written.

 

 

UNIFIED PLANNING WORK PROGRAM

 

Approval of the Draft 2010-12 UPWP

 

Many of the items included in the Draft 2010-12 UPWP were reviewed at the last meeting. Table 1 in Appendix A reflects the proposed budget for the upcoming year.  The budget is approximately 30% higher than last year’s budget, but CDTC has enough funding to cover the increase.  A good portion of the increase is due to an increased emphasis on data collection, which will require consultant assistance.  Several corrections to Table 1 were noted:

·     Task 3.10 should show $390,000 for consultants and $10,000 for CDTC staff

·     Task 5.22 Delaware Avenue Linkage should appear on Table 1 since it will not be completed until April 2010

·     Task 5.64 Harriman Implementation Support should show $10,000 (not $5000) in CDTC Staff support

 

Members approved releasing the Draft UPWP for Public Review then Policy Board action with the above changes noted.

 

Approval of the Draft UPWP Resolution

 

Members approved the draft resolution for action by the Policy Board in March.

 

 

2007-12 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM AMENDMENTS

 

SA104—Batchellerville Bridge Replacement

 

The re-design of this project is complete, and the revised engineer’s estimate is $58M including inspection.  The new cost is approximately $20M greater than what had been programmed in the 2007-12 TIP, but less than the bid this past summer.  Region One’s allocation of HBRR funds has increased and it proposes to fill the $20M gap with HBRR.  The special allocation of $30 M from statewide HBRR totals remains committed to the project.  Saratoga County is not contributing financially to the construction of the new bridge, but will be responsible for all maintenance once the bridge is built.  This proposed amendment sparked lengthy discussions regarding precedent, alternatives and merit.  Members approved the amendment, with one abstention (Kristina Younger).

 

R188—NY 40 Bridge Over the Hoosic River

 

The design of this bridge was not fully scoped when it was first placed on the TIP.  New cost estimates show a $10M deficit.  NYSDOT would like to use HBRR funds to fill the gap.  The bridge is long and narrow which makes design options minimal.  The Village and Town of Schaghticoke residents emphasized the importance of this bridge at recent Linkage public meetings.  Members approved the proposed TIP amendment.

 

 

ARRA Rail Amendments

 

Items C-I were removed from the agenda because anticipated Rail ARRA funds are not available.  NYSDOT distributed a summary of recently High Speed Rail Projects that were awarded ARRA funding.  SA256 (Ballston Spa Double Track), A395 (Albany-Schenectady Double track)and CSXT Highway Rail Grade Crossing Safety Improvements(2 of 12 are located in the Capital District)were approved as amendments to the 2007-12 TIP.  The double track project between Albany and Schenectady does not address the long standing Livingston Avenue bridge concerns.

 

 

2010-15 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE

 

Review of Post 2014 Projects

 

 

Staff provided Summary Information (history and status) for each of the 9 “post-2014” projects currently listed in the 2007-12 TIP.

1.    Exit 3 ($15M)

2.    Selkirk ByPass ($8M)

3.    New Karner Road ($16M)

4.    Watervliet Shaker Road Phase III ($6M)

5.    Alternate Route 7 ($9M)

6.    Patroon Island Bridge ($27 M)

7.    Rural Rensselaer County Route 7 ($10M)

8.    US 9/9J over Amtrak Rensselaer County ($12M)

9.    Route 50 North of Saratoga Springs ($13 M)

 

Each of the nine projects was discussed in turn to determine which, if any, would move into construction ahead of the new projects to be programmed.  A motion was made to move the Exit 3, Watervliet Shaker Road, Alternate Route 7, Patroon Island Bridge, Route 7 Rensselaer County, Route 9/9J and Route 50 Saratoga Springs into the fifth year of the proposed 2010-15 TIP.  Members approved the motion.

 

After some discussion, members approved a motion reconfirming the importance and intent of the Selkirk Bypass project, but to schedule it in the post-2015 period.  It was noted that the funding package for the project is incomplete and will likely require private contribution. Mike Morelli noted that the town is committed to working out issues with the Thruway Authority and others in order to move the project forward.

 

Discussions focused on the New Karner Road Project and its history.  Albany County is planning to initiate preliminary design for intersection improvements in 2011.  The programmed amount for this project reflects intersection work and widening.  The Preliminary Design will aid in articulating a realistic cost estimate.  Members approved the motion to move the reduced scope of the project into the fifth year of the new TIP; PE is already in the five-year TIP so that project details can be identified and scoped.

 

The Route 50 Freeman’s Bridge Road project was discussed. The New Visions Budget shows $16M for this project.  Like the Selkirk Bypass project, this project assumes a private contribution.  Kevin Corcoran reaffirmed the need for this project and asked that it receive the same treatment as the Selkirk Bypass project (placed in the post-2015 period with no project schedule).  Members approved this action.

 

Fiscal Constraint

 

John Poorman briefly reviewed fiscal constraint policies. According to federal law, the first four years of the TIP must match official estimates of federal funding by year and fund source. John reviewed the table that he distributed at the meeting.  Basically, the table shows that with the new proposed projects and the commitment to longstanding projects, at best CDTC has a 6˝ year program and more conservatively, a 9 year program.  Members also reviewed Table 4.  Table 4 shows that although in total, the Capital District is somewhat under-programmed, due to the need to balance the program cell by cell, there is really only some programming capacity in HBRR.

 

Glenn Posca distributed the draft interim 2010-15 TIP Project Listings for members to review.  This document includes all of the Round 1 projects and reflects all of the TIP amendments made through February 2nd.  Glenn stressed that some listings might be inaccurate and that the scrutiny of project sponsors is needed to help expedite corrections.

 

Summary of Remaining Candidate Projects

 

In interest of time, this agenda item was tabled until the February 10th meeting.

 

OTHER

 

There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:20 p.m.  The next Planning Committee meeting is scheduled for February 10, 2010.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

 

John P. Poorman

Secretary