The advocacy organization that started the active transportation movement turns 50 years old. They're celebrating on the fantastic 34th Ave Open Street in Queens.
Let's go there together! We'll take the train to Grand Central, then ride 6 miles on protected bike lanes to the event.
Sunday, June 11, 2023 9:46 train from Tarrytown It's a local train, so you can hop on along the way. We'll be on the rear most car.
The festivities run from 12 - 4.
If you're curious, the party is between 76th and 78th Streets.
Keep reading the coverage below of several recent successes. We're working for you every day to make the Tarrytown area streets safer and sustainable.
Your financial support is needed right now to keep this work going, and to pay for the insurance for hosting rides and bicycle repairs. Please contribute generously right now: https://biketarrytown.org/donate.php
Sleepy Hollow is gradually transforming the "East Parcel" of the former GM factory into the "Commons" park and new Public Works facility. Welcoming people walking, cycling and wheelchairing is a key criteria for a successful park.
But motor vehicles would be the only thing welcomed if the plans on file were built. Engineering drawings drafted under former Mayor Wray have a 26 foot wide road, with one narrow sidewalk crammed immediately adjacent to it.[1]
Fortunately, we reviewed the documents and spoke with newly elected Mayor Rutyna about them. He said this construction contract would not be awarded.
[1] https://www.sleepyhollowny.gov/contracting-and-bids/bids/sleepy-hollow-commons-phase-2-project
Sleepy Hollow and the State Department of Transportation (DOT) have been going back and forth for many years about improving safety on Route 9 at Pierson Ave and at Pocantico St. In September, the Village was surprised to learn that the DOT produced a draft of drawings for these intersections. We learned of them in March, so we used the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) to get the drawings and find out that the intent is to begin construction in the Summer of 2024.
Our review of the plans found that the only real change is extending Statue Island north a bit so Old Broadway meets Broadway at a new signalized 4-way intersection with Pierson Ave. The bulk of the other work is adding curb ramps for wheelchairs. But several of the curb ramp would point blind people and wheelchair users into the center of the intersections. Bike Tarrytown and friends put together a bunch of small tweaks to the plans that will significantly improve safety.[2][3]
We discussed these issues with Mayor Rutyna and he's going to bring them up with the DOT. Hopefully the contract hasn't been bid yet and (some of) the changes can get into the construction plans.
You may have heard/seen construction started in Tarrytown for a path over the Thruway on the west side of Route 9. The side path that runs along Broadway from the TZB to Route 119 will connect to this new bridge and continue south to the hotel entrance. Sidewalk improvements will be made from there to the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail at Lyndhurst.
Back in 2017, when the Thruway Authority first presented the plans for this side path and the widening of Broadway, we submitted a detailed set of comments to enhance the project's safety.[4]
We thank the Thruway Authority for taking up some of our suggestions. The path will now be wider by the hotel driveway and making some enhancements down to the OCA. At the same time, it is disturbing that the Thruway is OK creating a dangerous design in which people crossing the highway ramp will not be protected by a refuge island.[5][6]
The value of the project's main goal, adding a second turn lane from southbound Broadway to the Thruway on ramp, is dubious. Wait times for getting on to the Thruway are modest during rush hour, and nearly non-existent at other times. Let alone the goal could have been affordably accomplished by converting one of the through lanes into a turn lane, instead of spending millions of dollars widening the road.
We FOIL'ed the construction plans to see exactly what was being implemented and how it was going to be done. Good thing we did. The work zone plans show that during construction, people using the sidewalk will be forced into traffic. There would be no safe way to walk/roll to the JCC, hotel, Honda dealership, Mavis, or the Van Wart and Pennybridge neighborhoods.
We brought this to the attention of Tarrytown's Mayor, Trustees and Administrator. The Administrator is now communicating with the Thruway Authority to get this fixed.
[4] https://biketarrytown.org/broadway-for-everybody/safety-first-for-thruway-entrance.php
[5] https://biketarrytown.org/img/2018-03-30-thruway-ramp-conflict.png
[6] https://biketarrytown.org/img/2018-03-30-thruway-ramp-refuge.png
A colleague contacted the State DOT for an update on the Route 9 Complete Street Preliminary Engineering project covering the corridor from Sleepy Hollow through Hastings-on-Hudson. Here's the latest:
* Elected Officials Briefing will occur in the early summer
* Followed by the Public Outreach effort
* Corridor review & preliminary investigation start in early autumn
If you haven't yet, send a quick note to the Board of Trustees in your village. The template on our website makes it super easy.
1) Go to https://biketarrytown.org/broadway-for-everybody/ 2) By the top is the "Once in a Lifetime Opportunity" text box 3) Click your Village's link in there 4) Customize the text 5) Send!
Thanks!
biketarrytown.org | info@biketarrytown.org | T: @BikeTarrytown | F: @BikeTarrytn
