August 23, 2013 Ms. Robin Dropkin, Executive Director Parks & Trails
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STATE OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION REGION ONE ALBANY, NY 12232 www.dot.ny.gov Sam Zhou, P.E. Joan McDonald ACTING REGIONAL DIRECTOR COMMISSIONER August 23, 2013 Ms. Robin Dropkin, Executive Director Parks & Trails New York 29 Elk Street Albany, NY 12207 518-434-1583 [email protected] Re: PIN 1460.42, Route 32 Over the Mohawk Bridge Project Comment letter dated August 20, 2013 Dear Ms. Dropkin: I received your comment letter in today’s mail. I’d like to thank you and your staff for the time and effort spent reviewing the proposed alternatives as outlined in the Draft Design Report and for your thoughtful and constructive comments. Your concerns are shared by the Capital District Transportation Committee and were expressed in a letter to me from their Executive Director Michael Franchini dated August 21, 2013. I’ve attached a copy of his letter for your information along with a copy of my response letter dated August 22, 2013. As I said to Mr. Franchini, different bicycling advocacy groups typically don’t agree on the best approach for accommodating bicyclists. Your letter and CDTC’s letter are a good example of this. As I explained in my response to CDTC, consistency is important, as is following current design requirements. Your proposal to establish dedicated and striped 5 foot wide bicycle lanes would meet current standards. It would also be ‘one step better’ than the currently proposed preferred 4.2 meter (14 foot) wide shared use travel lanes (as compared to the minimum required width for such lanes of 12 feet). However, your proposal to provide 10 foot wide travel lanes does not meet the applicable design requirements, which call for 3.3 meter (11 feet) lanes minimum. Therefore, in order to provide dedicated bicycle lanes a total width of 5 feet plus 11 feet, or 16 feet in all would be required. This would add 2 feet of bridge deck in each direction, for a total of 4 feet. Over the proposed 850 foot long bridge (under Alternative #6) this would require an additional 3,400 square feet of bridge deck area. Using a rough estimate of $500/SF, this would increase the cost of the bridge by $1.7 Million and so is economically not feasible. Economics aside, from a practical standpoint providing dedicated bicycle lanes over very short distance doesn’t seem to provide a great deal of benefit, especially in locations where there is no hope of ever extending those lanes. In the Town of Waterford the area immediately north of the bridge is heavily developed and is a historic district. Substantial widening there for dedicated bike lanes is highly unlikely, ever. Region One Executive Office, Suite 1s50 - 50 Wolf Road - Albany, NY 12232 The currently proposed 4.2 meter (+/- 14 foot) wide shared use travel lanes are a good compromise, in my opinion, between the minimum required 12 foot wide shared use travel lanes and the 16 foot width that would be required to provide dedicated bike lanes. The current proposal is also an improvement over existing conditions as well as more compatible with the existing and future width available in the Town of Waterford. Sincerely, Geoffrey W. Wood, P.E. Project Manager Attachments: 1) Your 08/20/2013 comment letter 2) 08/21/2013 comment letter from CDTC 3) 08/22/2013 response letter to CDTC cc: Project File Mr. Michael Franchini, Executive Director, Capital District Transportation Committee Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway Coalition, Inc. P O Box 90 Clifton Park, N Y 12065-0090 518-406-8610 http://www.MohawkTowpath.org/ August 23, 2013 Geoffrey Wood Region 1 Design 50 N Y S Department of Transportation 50 Wolf Road - Pod 2-32 Albany, New York 12232 Re: Project 1460.42 Route 32 Mohawk River Cohoes-Waterford Bridge The Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway, a state and federal recognized scenic byway, passes along and connects the communities of Cohoes and Waterford as part of the designated route for visitors to the Mohawk Towpath Byway. The reconstruction of the Route 32 bridge is of major interest to the MTSB as we continue to promote the many historical, cultural, natural and recreational aspects to visitors both near and far. It appears that design alternative 6 is the preferred choice because it causes the least disruption to the communities. However, we would like to be assured that the design will safely accommodate not only the driving public, but also pedestrians and bicyclists who might choose to stop along the way. Also note that this area of the Mohawk River between the falls and the downstream dam appears to be a good fishing location. Perhaps as the construction wraps up leaving fishing access (even without dedicated parking) would be a community asset. The Byway encourages the public to take notice of the many historical and recreational opportunities that exist along this byway that follows the route of the Erie Canal and parts of the Champlain Canal in our local communities. The reconstruction of the Route 32 bridge, also known as the Roosevelt Bridge, is of major benefit to our municipal partners along the Mohawk Towpath Byway. We look forward to its construction and completion. If we can be of any further assistance, please contact me at 518-371-7548. Thank you for allowing commentary on this important project. Sincerely, Eric J. Hamilton Executive Director STATE OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION REGION ONE ALBANY, NY 12232 www.dot.ny.gov Sam Zhou, P.E. Joan McDonald ACTING REGIONAL DIRECTOR COMMISSIONER August 22, 2013 Mr. Michael Franchini, Executive Director Capital District Transportation Committee One Park Place, Main Floor Albany, NY 12205-2676 518-458-2161 [email protected] Re: PIN 1460.42, Route 32 Over the Mohawk Bridge Project Comment letter dated August 21, 2013 Dear Mr. Franchini: I received your comment letter in today’s mail. I’d like to thank you and your staff for the time and effort spent reviewing the proposed alternatives as outlined in the Draft Design Report and for your thoughtful and constructive comments. We’re aware of the importance of the route as a regional bicycle and pedestrian connection, but the background information you provided to support this fact is helpful in documenting that fact. Your letter will be included in the Final Design Report. In recognition of the importance of this route for bicycling we’ve selected the recommended 4.2 meter (14 feet) shared use travel lane width for this project rather than the minimum 3.6 meter (12 feet) width. I understand from your comments, and from my prior interaction with Ed Tremblay, Director of Community & Economic Development for the City of Cohoes, that the difference between the current proposal and your suggestion is simply the addition of a white pavement edge line 3 feet from the face of curb. You are not suggesting more pavement width, or a wider bridge. As I said during the Q&A portion of last Thursday night’s meeting, this is a final design detail that could be discussed further, after design approval, and this is what I recommend. For now I’d like to point out that striping a 3 foot wide shoulder, with the intended purpose of that shoulder to serve as a bicycle accommodation, does not meet the guidance/requirements contained in the current version of Chapter 17, Bicycle Facility Design, of NYSDOT’s Highway Design Manual. This chapter can be found on-line here: https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/design/dqab/hdm/hdm-repository/chapt_17.pdf . See Section 17.4.5, ‘Shoulders’, on page 17-6 for this statement: “When the scoping or Design Approval Documents indicate a need to design shoulders on a project to specifically accommodate bicycling, the shoulder width should be a minimum of 1.2 m.” This is equivalent to 4 feet, not 3. Also see Section 17.4.6, ‘Wide Curb Lanes’, on page 17-7 for this statement: “Where an edge stripe is used on a wide curb lane, the stripe should be Region One Executive Office, Suite 1s50 - 50 Wolf Road - Albany, NY 12232 Wood to Franchini, 08/22/2103, page 2 placed as close as practicable to the curb face. However, where this has the potential for encouraging the undesirable operation of two motor vehicles in one lane, it may be preferable to place the edge stripe at the edge of the travel lane, provided that a 1.2-m wide "shoulder" space (approximate) would remain between the curb face and lane stripe.” When it comes to pavement markings, consistency is considered to be very important so that drivers and bicyclists both know what to expect and what is required (of them and of the other). It would be problematic for me to propose a typical section in the Final Design Report which deviates from the project design criteria, our Highway Design Manual, and perhaps more importantly from our current practices for striping our State Highways to ensure consistency. Whereas the CDTC Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force is a local group, the NYSDOT Highway Design Manual provides guidance and requirements for transportation projects state wide. Rather than advocating for specific changes to this individual project it would be more appropriate, I think, for CDTC to advocate for changes to the NYSDOT Highway Design Manual. Regarding your comments about what the Draft Design Report has to say about proposed pedestrian facilities, thank you very much for pointing this out to me. While I’ve been directly involved with the project for many years, it’s difficult to be on top of every detail.