PLANNING
COMMITTEE MEETING
Meeting Minutes
MEMBERS ATTENDING
Melissa Ashline-Heil, City of
Frank Bonefide, NYS Department
of Transportation
Wayne Bonesteel,
Paul Cassillo, City of
Rob Cherry, NYS Department of Transportation Region 1
Peter Comenzo, Town of
Steve Feeney,
Rocky
Ferraro, Capital District Regional Planning Commission
Michael Franchini,
Andrew Kreshik, City of
Joseph LaCivita, Town of
Michael Morelli,
Town of
Rosemary Nichols, City of
John Poorman, Capital District Transportation Committee
(Secretary)
Paul Reuss,
Tom Richardson, City of
Deidre Rudolph, City of
Phil Serafino,
representing Bill Rinaldi, NYS Thruway Authority
Steve Watts, Town of
STAFF
Ross Farrell, Capital District Transportation Authority
Shelly Johnston, Creighton Manning Engineering
David Jukins, Capital District Transportation Committee
Sandra Misiewicz, Capital
District Transportation Committee
Sree Nampoothiri, Capital District Transportation Committee
Chris O’Neill, Capital
District Transportation Committee
Chuck Rappazzko,
NYS Department of Transportation
Steve Strichman,
City of
Mike Wieszchowski,
Laberge Group
Cathy Woodruff, Times
VISITORS ISSUES
Chairman Franchini opened the
meeting at approximately
Virginia Hammer, from the Pine Hills Neighborhood
Association voiced concern that the Madison Avenue project proposed by the City
of
Steve Strichman presented
information about the recently completed Route 5 Transit Gateway Linkage Plan. The
plan study area is bounded by
Ross Farrell from CDTA provided a “report card” on ridership productivity and attendant service change
recommendations that resulted from the analysis. CDTA’s Route
Classification system, established during CDTA’s
Transit Development Plan Update, establishes thresholds and ranges of ridership by route category. Acceptable annual ridership
thresholds vary by type of service, ranging from Trunk Routes at 250,000 riders
per year, down to rural routes at 10000 riders per year. CDTA recently completed an in-depth review of
the bus routes in
ACTION ITEMS
ADMINISTRATION
Approval
of the
Members approved the August 4th meeting notes
as written.
New
Visions Update For 2010
An update of the New Visions Plan
will be needed by October 2011. This short time frame will not allow an
in-depth, comprehensive update to the plan.
Chris O’Neill briefly outlined the proposed approach for meeting the
update deadline. CDTC staff proposes
that we pursue a maintenance plan update consisting of staff work to produce
brief status reports on all key aspects of the New Visions 2030 Plan;
opportunities for Planning and Policy members and other interested parties to
comment on the assessments and contribute ideas for consideration in scoping
out the subsequent plan update; extension of the horizon and conformity
determination, and adoption. Members
approved the proposed approach for updating the New Visions Plan.
2011-12
Linkage Program
2010-15 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
T9 CDTA Facility Improvements
CDTA submitted two applications for Earmarks for roof
replacement at the Albany Bus Garage. CDTA
was successful, with the help of Paul Tonko, in
receiving funding. CDTA is working with
NYSED_
Discussion Items
STATUS REPORTS ON MAJOR
CAPITAL
Tiger II Grants—TIGER
II awards were announced two weeks ago.
$600million was available nationally, two NYS
projects were funded totalling $26 million (Niagara Falls
Train Station and Bronx Intermodal Station)
HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant—Rocky Ferraro reported that despite an excellent
application, with 11 project partners, the Capital Region’s application to HUD was
not approved for funding. About 40
applications were funded nationwide out of 260 applications submitted. The application will be resubmitted if there
is another round of funding.
Transportation Enhancement Program (TEP)/Safe Routes To
School—
Patroon Island Bridge—NYSDOT reported that the project scoping report will be
circulated shortly. The report will
indicate that rehabilitation is preferred over replacement as it will cost
about one third the cost of replacing the bridge.
Livingston
Avenue Bridge—Chris O’Neill is a member of
the Empire Corridor Committee. Chris has
emphasized the importance of bicycle and pedestrian access on the bridge. The Planning Committee suggested that CDTC
write a letter to NYSDOT to stress the importance of a bicycle/pedestrian
connection.
High Speed
Rail—Chris O’Neill and David Jukins
represent CDTC on the Empire Corridor Committee which is looking at High Speed
Rail in NYS. Two million dollars is
earmarked for a study to look at options for the entire Empire Corridor.
Erie
Mohawk Corridor—NYSDOT is sponsoring a study
to investigate multi modal issues and concerns, including highway access,
freight, passenger rail, transit and trails along the Erie Mohawk Corridor,
from Massachusetts to Buffalo. This
study will be coordinated with the High Speed Rail Study to avoid duplication
of effort. Chris O’Neill represents CDTC
on the study advisory committee.
STATUS OF PLANNING ACTIVITIES
CDTC
The contract for the consultant study for the Development
of an Integrated Corridor Management (
NYSDOT
The Single Point Urban Interchange at Exit 6 of the
Northway is open and working well.
NYSDOT staffing has been seriously affected by the early retirement
incentive. Over seven hundred people
retired and another 100 employees are targeted for layoffs. The Slingerlands ByPass
Project received an honorable mention for Excellence in Design.
CDRPC
CDRPC will hold a Foreign Trade Zone Workshop in early
2011.
The American Community Survey (Census) 5 year data will
be released shortly. The
CDTA
CDTA plans to roll out Bus Plus (Route 5
The southern section of the
There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned
at
Respectfully submitted,
John P. Poorman