Roads/Traffic/Drainage

See: Route 202, Baptist Church Road Reconstruction, Traffic Issues, Drainage Issues, Taconic Bridge Closing , Road Paving

Underhill Avenue Speed Limit

Town Board, 2/7/2012

 After closing the public hearing, the board voted 4-0 to increase the speed limit on Underhill Avenue, from Route 118 to the northbound ramps of the Taconic Parkway to 40mph from the current 30mph. Supervisor Grace explained that the speed limit had been 40mph when Underhill was a county road but that when the town took over the road several years ago as part of the Legacy field project, the speed limit was reduced to 30mph. He said that the average speed on the road was 48 mph and that studies have shown that slow moving vehicles can be a cause of accidents. He did not think that raising the limit would increase the current speeds.

Town Board, 1/10/2012 

Explaining that the 30mph speed limit on Underhill Ave. was one of his “pet peeves,” Supervisor Grace said that he had had discussions with Councilman Paganelli, the Police Chief and Larry Eidelman, the public safety officer, about raising the limit to 40mph. He explained that the speed had been 40mp in the past but was reduced to 30mph when it became a town road. Mr. Paganelli summarized a report from the Police Department indicting that the average speed on the road was 48mph. Raising the speed to 40mph, he said, would not be precedent setting, and the police had no problem with the change.

A local law will be drafted raising the speed limit from Route 118 to the westbound southern entrance to the Taconic. The 30mph limit for the remainder of Underhill Ave. would remain unchanged. Supervisor Grace explained that he hadn’t had the law drafted in advance of the meeting as he wanted to know if the board was in favor of the idea. He said he didn’t want to do something for naught.

Town Board, 5/8/2012

Highway Superintendent DiBartolo presented the Board with a list of 15 roads he said were in the worst shape and needed to be paved. If all the streets were done, the total cost would be $834,803. The Town will be getting $296,000 from NYS under the CHIPS program. For the balance, Mr. DiBartolo asked the Board for $300,000 from fund balance and the remaining money from an anticipated FEMA payment associated with Hurricane Irene. Supervisor Grace said he did not know exactly how much the Town would be receiving from FEMA and that the money would be a reimbursement for costs incurred by several departments.Mr. DiBartolo didn’t want the reimbursement to go into the General Fund.

When Councilman Bianco said that the fund balance was estimated at $3.6 million, Supervisor Grace noted that there were other expenses that would have to come from the fund balance, such as labor contract commitments and that he didn’t want to mislead people. He said that he hoped to have additional information on the amount of the FEMA reimbursements by next Tuesday.

After Councilman Bianco raised the issue of the need to do something to pave the town’s roads, a discussion followed on how to finance additional paving. Councilman Bianco said that there was a possibility that a likely 2011 surplus could be used for paving to supplement the state CHIPS money. Highway Superintendent DiBartolo said that the town has applied to the state for $750,000 to help offset the likely wear and tear on the town’s local roads that will result from the Taconic bridge closure. He said he was encouraged that the town’s grant application had made it through the first round.

Mr. DiBartolo said that this year his department plans to continue using an outside contractor to do the paving as it was less expensive than having the town’s staff do the job. Roads scheduled to be done include some in the Fox Meadow area, Hunterbrook Road, Hanover Street, Moseman, and East Main Street from the shopping center to Route 6N. The East Main Street work will be financed with the remaining funds the town received from the county when the town took over the road as part of the Legacy Fields project. Other roads, like Hunterbrook, will only be paved in “swaths” in order to make the available funds go further.

Whereas the town used to pave roads every 10-13 years, the cycle was now every 19 years because of the increased cost of blacktop and diminishing town funds allocated for paving. It was noted that the town had not appropriated any paving money in excess of what it received from the state in the past three budgets. If the town has $1.5 million for paving this year, he said, the town might be able to get to a 16 year cycle.

Supervisor Grace acknowledged that the town could not pave all the roads that needed to be paved and that as money became available the board would have to meet with the highway superintendent to set priorities on how the money was used.

Taconic Bridge Closing

Town Board, 3-20-2012

Police Chief McMahon discussed preparations the town has made in conjunction with the state DOT and local and neighboring fire and ambulance corps to deal with both anticipated and unanticipated problems. Of special concern is the area south of the reservoir during the morning rush hour when the parkway typically experiences 7,500 cars per hour.Cameras on the parkway will be used to adjust the five temporary traffic lights on local roads, police cars and tow trucks will be strategically located, and sections of the jersey barriers on the temporary bypass will be movable to allow traffic to be diverted if it becomes necessary.

Route 202 Improvements

(See also Trees for a discussion of a forest managment plan involving the State Land parcel.)

Town Board, 2/23/2012 special meeting

The following comments were made during Courtesy of the Floor

Ray Arnold, the town’s former Planning Director, gave board members some documents outlining the history of the Route 202 corridor dating back to 1956 when the corridor was initially proposed for a town park. That changed with the 1966 master plan which designated the corridor for general and light industry. He called the 2010 comprehensive plan a “zoning map” and not a comprehensive plan.

Paul Moskowitz stated that the Route 202 meeting was “a good thing to do” but wanted to know why, since at least three board members were likely to be at the meeting, the meeting hadn’t been advertised as required by law. In response, Supervisor Grace said that because the meeting was a “forum” and not a “work session” it didn’t have to be advertised.

The board also voted to engage the Jacobs Engineering Group to review Costco's traffic study.

Town Board, 1/24/2012

Although not on the agenda, a discussion on pending improvements to the Route 202 corridor were discussed as an offshoot to the need for a traffic consultant to review the traffic chapter of the Costo DEIS.

Supervisor Grace said he wanted to get all the players involved in the Route 202 corridor together, including our state representatives, to discuss the possibility of state funding for infrastructure improvements for road and drainage improvements that would be tied to job creation.  He said he was working with Town Clerk Alice Roker to identify all the players. We should be “shovel ready,” he said.

This led to Planning Director John Tegeder giving the board an update on planned improvements, including the DOT plan in the Pine Grove area that is scheduled for construction to start late this year, the Costco improvements and future improvements linked to the development of the State Land property.  (See also Town Board, 1/24/2012 for a discussion of hiring a traffic consultant to review the Costco traffic impact.)

Baptist Church Road Reconstruction

Town Board, 4/17/2012

The board voted to advertise bids for the project.

With little discussion the board voted to declare itself lead agency for SEQRA compliance in order to proceed with plans to rehabilitate the damaged culvert. The town attorney is still working on the condemnation notice needed to get the temporary easement that is needed for the work to proceed. Supervisor Grace said that if that doesn’t move forward, he would begin the project as an emergency.Acting Town Engineer Sharon Robinson said that she was ready to advertise for bids for the job but Supervisor Grace wanted to wait a bit longer.

Without any discussion, and with some board members already gone, Town Attorney Koster advised Supervisor Grace that at next week’s meeting, the board should declare itself lead agency under SEQRA in order to proceed with the condemnation required for the Baptist Church Road project.