Complete Streets Advisory Board

SARATOGA SPRINGS COMPLETE STREETS ADVISORY BOARD MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 10, 2022 5:00 P.M. ZOOM - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83327583317 ATTENDEES: KEN GREY, TED OROSZ, ERIN MACIEL, SUZANNE JOGODA, JAMES KELLY, AND JEN NATYZAK STAFF: COMMISSIONER DILLON MORAN AND TINA CARTON ABSENT: MICHELE RODDY PUBLIC: ED LINDNER, CHRIS BENNETT MEETING MINUTES ARE NOT A WORD-FOR-WORD TRANSCRIPT. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 5:03 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENT-15 MINUTES None APPROVAL OF MINUTES- NO MINUTES FOR APPROVAL DISCUSSION WITH COMMISSIONER MORAN Commissioner Moran is eager to create opportunities to attract diversity in the economy in Saratoga Springs., and for the city to be known as a biking friendly city. This only adds to the community. He is bringing to City Council the extension of outdoor dining downtown for the next three years and closing down specific streets. Henry Street is leading candidate. This is temporary for Thurs.-Sat nights. Next step is to pass a law to allow streets to shut down. Maple and Putnam would be open to allow for cut throughs. Another next step is to connect to West Side with bike lanes. Commissioner Minita Sanghvi is a strong supporter of getting more infrastructure and benefits to West Side. Saratoga Springs needs to weigh future infrastructure costs and priorities. The city has a dam severely in need of updates and replacement. This is a critical and immediate need because it’s a potential catastrophic situation. Dillon is investigating parklets and extended dining for restaurants/businesses on Broadway. 1 He stated that Mayor Kim is continuing to work on removing trucks from Broadway. He is in support in slowing speed limits across the city. Commissioner Moran would like to permit “concerts on the deck” on the new garage in the summer. This concert series could serve as a campaign to get people to use the garage. He also spoke about relaunching First Night. He discussed working with the City Center and CDTA to make the parking structure a transit hub where the CDTA trolley, bike share stations, potentially an electric car share car, and Uber/Lyft drivers could pick up people after they parked. Visitors and residents could park downtown and then have other forms of transportation available to get them to the track and destinations downtown so they wouldn’t have to drive once they get here. UPDATE ON THE DOWNTOWN CONNECTOR TRAIL AND WILTON/SARATOGA COUNTY/CITY CDTC PROJECT The City is currently planning for construction to start this summer for downtown connector. The construction RFP process is complete and the City is working on awarding a bid for this next phase. Construction of the trail starts at the intersection of Lake Ave and High Rock up to Excelsior. This includes the Red Spring intersection. Missing sidewalk links on the other side of the road are included. The sidewalk by Spring Run Trail will be replaced by a wide paved multi-use path. Preliminary study with the town of Wilton, CDTC, and Capital District Regional Planning is ongoing and looking at pedestrian and bicycle connections from Exit 15 slip ramp and Louden Road through the Wilton Mall area, over to Wilton YMCA, down Weibel Avenue and making connections to Bog Meadow. It is exploring routing over to Wilton YMCA, over Lowes Drive, down Louden Rd and considering connections to Bog Meadow Trail. Skidmore’s license agreement for use of the Weibel Avenue Skating Rink includes the payment for a installation of a future traffic light in front of the Weibel Ave ice rink. This will help facilitate pedestrians and bicycles to cross the road. UPDATE ON UNION RFP NYSDOT is planning to add bike lanes on Union Avenue from East Ave to Henning, with sidewalk on north side from East to the last track entrance. The project will include granite curbing to sides and median. The NYSDOT would like to shift the landscaping/mowing responsibilities in this area since they follow the regular mowing schedule and get complaints that it is not mowed frequently enough. The Mayor is arranging meeting with NYRA and Carrie Woerner to see if NYRA can take over the responsibility of managing the space. This would really dress up the boulevard. The City needs to determine which department is responsible for sending out the RFP for the bike/pedestrian accommodations from East Avenue to Mary Lou Whitney Park- connecting East to Congress Park. This study would also look at pedestrian areas and crosswalks. 269 BROADWAY 2 Ken notes there is an existing sidewalk nearby, the 269 property will include a connector to Hamilton St connector. The goal is to get a minimum 10ft and ideally 12ft trail section here to enable multi-modal connector. The current Saratoga Greenbelt Trail maps connect the trail from Congress Park by traveling on Congress Street to South Franklin. This area is more developed since the feasibility study and there is more traffic due to the addition of Embassy Suites. The City is considering a study to look at Hamilton St and West Circular as an alternate rate. This route goes next to the housing authority property, the Catholic High School, and new workforce housing. It’s also less steep. Erin advocates for a NY state regulation shared path, 12 feet width. The building should be responsible for clearing snow. She also advocates for the building to address treeline and benches. Erin volunteered to write a letter to Planning Board. Tom Denny from Open Space and Ed Lindner of Bikeatoga and the Saratoga Cycling group also plan to send a letter about the importance of this civic space and potential connections. Ted Orosz made a motion for trail on the south side of the building with 12 foot wide with landscaping, street furniture. The letter will be sent no later than Monday. Passed unanimously. Erin noted that the building owner needs to agree make the path a public bike right of way. SIDEWALK SNOW REMOVAL James Kelly noted that East Side Rec and numerous areas in the city have slush, ice and unsafe sidewalks. Many people come in as patients injured on their walks. Tina noted that City staff generally react to complaints. The committee also discussed the provision in the city code that even if you don’t have a sidewalk, you’re supposed to shovel a 4 foot pathway. To date, the group thought that this has never been enforced. CSAB can write an article about shoveling and sidewalk safety and go to the press to bring this to the public. Erin says in Syracuse, seasonal programs through the city allowed day laborers to help clean sidewalks Tina notes the city is working on updating the ADA transition plan. All existing crosswalks, sidewalks, and curb ramps were evaluated and a final report will be shared. Tina wants to be presented at a City Council meeting. The consultant plans to establish cost estimates for everything in the city, including all private and public areas. School district and DBA was part of the presentation OTHER BUSINESS Saratoga County is working to create a new section of the Zim Smith Trail to connect the end of the trail in Ballston Spa to the Saratoga Spa State Park. This could be the missing link to get into downtown Saratoga Springs by bike. Skidmore Campus Master Planning with community members included considerable discussion on Greenbelt Clinton Ave, slower traffic on North Broadway and utilizing the Glen Mitchell Trail. Creighton Manning is updating Complete Streets plan map, and they are also working on Safe Routes to School Map. This map will show the sidewalk network and highlight the missing linkages which are 3 required for students to walk to school. Bike/Ped accident data will be updated to show existing conditions. Mapping done in a month and a half ADJORN The meeting was officially adjourned at 6:35pm. 4