PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING
Meeting Minutes
April 29, May 6 and
STAFF
Frank Bonafide, NYS Department of Transportation Region
1
Steven Caruso, City of
MEMBERS ATTENDING
STAFF
MEMBERS ATTENDING
Phil Serafino, representing
Bill Rinaldi, NYS Thruway Authority
Michael Valentine,
Kristina Younger, Capital
District Transportation Authority (Vice-Chair)
STAFF
MEETING FORMAT
John Poorman requested the Committee’s concurrence with
conducting the special April 29 meeting and the regularly-scheduled May 6
meeting as two sessions of the same meeting.
Members agreed. [Secretary’s
note: at the close of the May 6 session,
members agreed to suspend discussion and conclude the meeting at a special May
13 session. These minutes reflect
discussions and actions that took place April 29, May 6 and May 13.]
VISITORS ISSUES
Frank Commisso from the Albany Port Commission commented
that the Port is in the midst of rehabilitating their docks and has enough
funding for Phase I of the dock work.
Phase II and
Action Items
ADMINISTRATION
Approval
of the
The meeting notes from the April 1st meeting were approved noting that the
sentence in the fifth paragraph on page 7 “the state has extended the time for
doing a STIP update indefinitely and therefore they are left with no choice”
should be changed to read “the schedule for submitting a new STIP has been
extended.”
CDTA PRESENTATION—NORTH/SOUTH
TRANSIT CORRIDOR STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS
·
Bus or rail solutions along I‐87 from
·
Bus or rail solutions along
US Route 9 from
·
Bus or rail solutions along
the
·
Rail (
·
Rail (
The consultants considered a spectrum of
·
With the possible exception
of the CPR Corridor, due to the relatively low return on ridership for a high
transit investment, light rail should be deferred from consideration at this time
for transit technologies in the North–South Corridors.
·
For the US 9 and I‐87
corridors, improvements to the existing NX Service and local bus services appear
to be sufficient to meet future demand. Managed lanes would be an option to
prioritize transit.
·
The River Corridor appears to
have high potential benefits. Existing transit in this corridor enjoys high
ridership, and transit improvements could reach new markets.
The full report can be downloaded off CDTA’s website.
AMERICAN RECOVERY
CDTC
Stimulus Funds Report
This report was reviewed at both the April 29th
and May 6th meetings. On May
6th a revised table was distributed that summarized the $48.846M in
projects that are in CDTC’s region that have been or will be submitted to the Governor
to be certified for ARRA funding. The CDTC total for TIP projects totals $65
million. RG 109—
At the May 13 meeting, the status of the eight-county
Region 1 stimulus allocation was discussed.
The expected allocation has been increased to $98 M, which is sufficient
to cover the listed projects in the CDTC area.
Local and NYSDOT
1R Candidate Discussion
On April 29th, Committee members led by NYSDOT
staff reviewed the list of Local 1R projects that are identified in the Project
Log in the previously distributed material. A motion was made to adopt the
projects identified on the project log, with the addition of
NYSDOT distributed a table entitled “Projects Requiring
Offsets” at the May 6th meeting. This table identified Region 1’s
plans regarding the projects requiring offsets and the projects that provide
offsets.
Within the eight counties, the ARRA projects, including
the three Enhancement type projects—Spring Run, Hudson Mohawk (S176) and the
Zim Smith account for $92.6M. Current
CDTC policy states that these projects will be funded on a first come/first
served basis. If these projects are
listed in the TIP, and require more than the TIP estimate, they will draw down on
the stimulus funds available; if no stimulus funds are available, then these
TIP projects can draw down on the traditional TIP funds.
Resolution
Certifying the Project Selection Criteria Used in Identifying projects for ARRA
Funding
The Resolution Certifying the Project Selection Criteria
Used in Identifying Projects for ARRA Funding included in the April 29th
meeting material was approved as written.
Policy Board action will be requested on June 4.
Discussion
Regarding Addition of Three Stimulus Projects on May 13th
NYSDOT brought three projects to the table for discretionary
rail stimulus funding—Albany Rensselaer Station Capacity Phase II and Phase
The Albany Rensselaer Station Capacity projects would
complete the platform and rail work required at the Rensselaer Rail
Station. These two projects are on the
2007-12 TIP funded with State and Demo Fund sources. NYSDOT recommends moving these projects
forward with an application for discretionary FRA Stimulus Funds. $8.5B is available nationwide; the Empire
Corridor ranked 3rd on the prioritized list. Members approved the designation of $12.0M
for phase II and $15.210 for Phase
TIP Project S176, Schenectady Trail Rehabilitation is on
the TIP funded with Thruway funds.
NYSDOT proposed a fund source change from Thruway to ARRA, and also
recommended increasing the funding from $0.750 to $1.650. Members approved the funding increase and
fund source change. This action is
consistent with CDTC’s intentions for the project as part of the stimulus
plan. Under CDTC’s TIP Amendment
Procedures, this change will require Policy Board approval.
2007-12 TRANSPORTATION
IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM AMENDMENTS (listed in April 29th mailout)
A. S175—CR
103 Bridge Over Normanskill
HBRR will be used to fund this project for both design
and construction. The TIP listing showed
STP-Flex for design. An offset was found
for this project. Members approved the
amendment.
B & C.
R256—Caretaker Bridge over
This amendment is required to change the funding source
for the construction phase of these two projects from HBRR to Stimulus and to
modify the budgets. Members approved the
amendment.
D.
This amendment is required to move $1.596M in local
funding to stimulus funding for the construction phase of the project. A significant portion of this project’s
design was funded using local funds. The
additional funds are authorized for stimulus funding only. If stimulus funds are used, the local funds
freed up will be used for additional construction projects in the Airport GEIS
area in the Town of
This amendment adds several local 1R projects to the
list of projects to be funded with stimulus funds. The programmed cost is $8.2M to complete
these projects in the four county area.
Members approved the addition of the draw-downs from the RG108 set-aside
to the 2007-12 TIP. Federal aid for
these projects is capped.
Upon review of NYSDOT’s offset plan on May 6, members
revisited the current policy that limits TIP commitment to these projects to
stimulus funds only. Members agreed that
the status of the 1R initiative has changed from that of concept to that of
specific projects with good faith work being completed by sponsors to get the
projects obligated. Members modified the
TIP approval to reassert the “first come, first served” access of these
projects and all others to stimulus funds and to allow the 1R projects to use
traditional federal aid if the projects are ready for obligation prior to
F.
This amendment would assign $3.14M to the Museum
project. This project was approved as a Transportation Enhancement Project
(TEP) by the statewide review committee (TEAC).
Members discussed the TEP selection process and were reminded that the
evaluation team assembled by CDTC rated this project 19th out of 20th. NYSDOT rated this project as their #1 priority. Prior to this round of TEP evaluations,
NYSDOT was part of the evaluation committee assembled by CDTC. Members had asked CDTC to schedule a meeting
with
In response to the Planning Committee’s concerns, Dave
Rettig from NYSDOT Main Office met with John Poorman and Jason Purvis on May 5. NYSDOT plans to review the evaluation
practices prior to the next Enhancement solicitation.
NYSDOT withdrew this amendment at the May 13th
Planning Committee meeting.
G. RG105—Safety
Set-Aside and SA108 and S96 (
TIP Project SA108/S96 is currently funded with STP
Flex. NYSDOT would like to substitute
HSIP for STP Flex as the fund source, because there is a time limit on using
HSIP funds. The amendment is to show HSIP
as the fund source for $0.792 in
NYSDOT described an interim improvement schedule for
this corridor, which would include improvements at
I. I-90
Resurfacing
This amendment requires Policy Board action as
well. Members approved the assignment of
Interstate Maintenance funds to complete this project. Offsets have been identified for this
project.
J.
RG112—Bridge 5 to 7 Repairs
NYSDOT recommends using HBRR funds in place of stimulus
funds for this project. Offsets have
been identified for this project. The
amendment was approved.
K.
RG110—Bridge Cleaning
NYSDOT recommends using IM and HBRR funds in place of
stimulus funds for this project. Offsets
have been identified for this project.
The amendment was approved.
L/O/P
& Q. RG111—Bridge Painting, I-88 Bridge Deck Phase I, I-787 Pier and Cap
Beam Repair and Emergency Demand and Flag Repair JOC #3
NYSDOT recommends using HBRR and/or IM funds in place of
stimulus funds for these projects (items L, O, P and Q listed under amendments
in the April 29th mailout material).
Some funding increases were also noted.
Offsets have been identified for these projects. Members approved the projects listed under
items L, O, P and Q.
M. I-88
Bridge Deck Phase II
NYSDOT tabled this amendment at the May 13th
meeting.
N.
Pavement Maintenance
NYSDOT withdrew this amendment from consideration at the
April 29th meeting.
R.
Emergency Demand and Flag Repair JOC #3
NYSDOT recommends using HBRR funds for this $2.3M
project. Offsets have been identified
for this project. The amendment was
approved.
4/29 HANDOUT OF TRANS
A multi-page handout was distributed on April 29th,
identifying additional requests for TIP Amendments. The requests were labeled A through F. G—
A.
It was determined at the April 29th Planning Committee
meeting that $150,000 of this project is ineligible because Myrtle Street is
not on the Federal Aid system and consequently Federal funds can not be used to
fund this portion of the Project. On May
6th, a revised description of this project was distributed to the
Committee. The Myrtle Street portion was
eliminated from the project scope, but an additional $0.420M was added for
Pedestrian Lighting and an additional sidewalk along Myrtle Street (the sidewalk
is eligible for Federal Funding). The
city is requesting ARRA funds for this project.
A discussion followed regarding TIP status for the additional $0.420M if
this project is not certified by the Governor for ARRA funding. It was
determined that this project is not capped in the unlikely event that it is not
funded with ARRA monies (this project is shovel ready and with the first come
first served policy, will in all likelihood be funded with stimulus
funds). Members approved the amendment
for project SA216. Under CDTC’s TIP
Amendment Procedures, this change will require Policy Board approval.
F.
Bio-Fuels Transfer Project and
At the May 6th meeting, Committee members
voted to table the decision on this project until FHWA provides a ruling on the
eligibility of the Port’s project.
NYSDOT abstained from the vote.
Correspondence from FHWA received by the May 13th
meeting confirmed that the Port project is eligible for funding. Based on this
confirmation, a motion to approve both the Port and Rail Bio-fuel project was
approved, with three caveats--that the bio-fuel project will be eligible for
funding only after the Port project is approved and obligated; that these
projects can be funded only if the region receives more than the $98 million in
ARRA funds that are expected and that the bio-fuel project can only apply for
up to $4.2 million.
This is a $46.0M project that is eligible for the discretionary
FRA portion of the ARRA funds. This
project was on the TIP years ago and needs to be re-added in order to be
eligible for rail funds. Committee
members stressed concern that the pedestrian component will be dropped; this
project will be added back on the TIP with scope showing the pedestrian
component intact. This listing will show
on the TIP similar to the way the double track project shows on the TIP. Members approved the amendment. The Planning Committee would like to remain
informed about the status of the pedestrian component of this project.
NYSDOT withdrew this amendment at the May 13th
meeting, because it was determined that no TIP action was required because
CDTC’s authorization for the use of stimulus funds extends to all pre-existing
projects on the TIP.
H.
This project was approved as an Enhancement Project ($3.063M
in STP Enhancement and $.062M in local share).
This project is represented by both AGFTC and CDTC, but would be wholly
shown in CDTC’s TIP. Members approved
the amendment at the May 13th meeting.
TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT
PROGRAM UPDATE
Updated Tables 11 through 14 and two memos were
distributed to members at the May 13th meeting. Table 11 identifies
new projects proposed by NYSDOT. Funding
sources for projects identified by sequence numbers 1,6,8,9,and 10 are
non-contentious fund sources (IM and STP-Rail).
Members approved these for inclusion in the draft 2009-14 TIP. Funding sources for projects identified by
sequence numbers 2-5 are STP-Flex and CMAQ; these projects are new initiatives or
major funding increases to existing projects and will be evaluated as
candidates for the TIP.
Table 12 identifies projects rolling off the 2007-12
TIP. Projects identified by sequence
numbers
Table 13 identifies proposed changes for existing TIP
Demonstration Projects. Projects
identified by sequence numbers 1 and 2 (Rensselaer Amtrak Station Phase II and
III) were acted upon earlier and should not longer be listed in this
table. Project SA225, from Table 14
should be listed on this table. Members
approved the motion to approve Table 13, removing projects identified by sequence
numbers 1 & 2, and adding SA225.
Table 14 identifies cost data fixes for several existing
TIP projects. Some project sponsors are
incorrect on this table. SA225 was moved to Table 13. Table 14, minus SA225 was approved by members.
Memo 1—Accumulated Changes to Draft Project Listings
since January 2009 (Proposed Changes Already Reflected in the Draft Listings)
was reviewed by members. Members
concurred with the information noted in this memo and approved a motion to
replenish the set-asides for the 2009-14 TIP for the time being.
Memo 2—Accumulated Changes to the Draft Project Listings
since January 2009 (Proposed Changes Not reflected in the Draft Listings) was
discussed briefly. Members expressed a
desire to have additional discussions regarding TIP Project RG616 after CDTC
staff and NYSDOT staff confer regarding the budget of the existing regional
operations project (RG37/RG37A) and the scope of the proposed work to outfit
the new TMC building The memo was
approved as shown, with the exclusion of RG616.
Members reviewed the final table in the handout that
summarizes the Draft 2007-12 Funds by Project Costs and Fund Source. This table is presented as an FYI, subject to
discussion at the July Planning Committee meeting. This table will be revised before the next
meeting and will serve as the starting point for discussions regarding a TIP
solicitation. The requested change in scope for the Mechanicville project will
also be discussed.
UPWP BUDGET REVISIONS
At the May 6th meeting, CDTC staff
distributed a summary of the Proposed Fiscal Year Closeout. This handout provides information on the
steps that were taken to close out CDTC’s fiscal year as of
OTHER
At the May 13th meeting, CDTA distributed
information on bus stop consolidation and bus route changes. Some stops have been eliminated as were some
routes. This is due to performance,
budgetary concerns and in some cases bus stops will be moved because of road construction.
Respectfully submitted,
Secretary