Come support making Broadway for everybody a reality. The State Department of Transportation is creating ideas for turning Route 9 into a "complete street." Public feedback on their ideas will be gathered at two public workshops next month:
Thursday, September 12
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Mercy University
555 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry, NYThursday, September 19
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Tarrytown Senior Center
240 West Main St, Tarrytown, NY
Key things to demand:
Our detailed suggestions for how to make Route 9 better:
Tarrytown https://biketarrytown.org/presentations/route-9-improving-tarrytown.pdf
Sleepy Hollow https://biketarrytown.org/presentations/route-9-sleepy-hollow-mobility-lane-possibilities.pdf
Visualizations of key locations: https://biketarrytown.org/broadway-for-everybody/possibilities/
A short, pretty ride to relax on the lawn at Lyndhurst, overlooking the Hudson River sunset, while listening to music presented by the amazing folks at Jazz Forum Arts. Add to your joy by bringing food, drink, blanket, chairs, etc. Meet: Thu. August 29, 5:30 pm, Patriots Park, Washington St entrance
Folks now have another way to get around Ossining. The long discussed "Project MOVER" e-bike share system launches on August 26. This test project will run through the Fall. While this phase is just in Ossining and requires using a smart phone, it is hoped that next year the program will allow other payment options and expand to Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Dobbs Ferry and Croton. For details, see https://projectmoverbikeshare.com/.
Bike Tarrytown's Director has been busy contacting government officials to improve conditions for people walking, cycling and riding the bus. Please help amplify these messages by sending a quick email too.
On Wednesday, 8/28/24, Tarrytown's Board of Trustees will be discussing how to spend $500,000 given by Andrea Stewart-Cousins to improve the Main St / Cortlandt St intersection. We need to make sure the Village invests our tax dollars wisely.
The initial proposal put on the table by Tarrytown's Village Administrator (Richard Slingerland) is installing a new traffic signal, tweaking the alignment of the slip lane, and making minor crosswalk adjustments. This would be a total waste of money, leaving the intersection a wide expanse of unsafe, ugly asphalt. This embarrassment came from Mr. Slingerland taking it upon himself to hire a run of the mill traffic engineering firm to come up with changes for this location.
The Board considered this option, and came up with other possibilities, during their August 12th work session. (Video of it starts at 1:15:00 https://www.tarrytownny.gov/village-trustees/pages/08-12-2024-board-of-trustees-work-session) In response to that conversation, we sent the following email to Village officials. It will be good if you send them a note too.
Karen Brown <kbrown@tarrytowngov.com>, David Kim <dkim@tarrytowngov.com>, Effie Phillips-Staley <epstaley@tarrytownny.gov>, Paul Rinaldi <prinaldi@tarrytowngov.com>, Rebecca McGovern <bmcgovern@tarrytowngov.com>, Robert Hoyt <rhoyt@tarrytowngov.com>, Thomas Mitchell <tmitchell@tarrytownny.gov>, Richard Slingerland <rslingerland@tarrytowngov.com>, Alissa Fasman <afasman@tarrytowngov.com>
Dear Mayor and Trustees:
Watched [8/12/24's] work session discussion regarding the Main St / Cortlandt St intersection. Below is information and perspectives that may be of assistance.
Questions were asked about crashes at the location. I have NYSDOT's ALIS data from 1987 - 2019, which shows 40 motor vehicle crashes at this intersection, resulting in 18 minor injuries. No crashes involving people walking. One crash involving someone driving hitting someone cycling. (Think I got them all. Having 4 different street names there made it awkward to search.)
For comparison, there were 122 crashes at Main / Broadway (65 minor injuries, 5 serious injuries), and 58 at Main / Washington (35 minor injuries, and 3 serious injuries).
The Mayor is right about needing to create a broad plan for the bridge replacement and the streets around it.
As the group will learn at the next work session, traffic signals are deceptively expensive. It will be wise to let the DOT do their short term signal tweaks at their own expense. (They may wind up proving helpful for some of the concerns raised by Trustee McGovern and the Mayor.)
The Village can then invest its grants and resources into replacing the bridge and designing the adjoining streets in a way that will serve everyone dramatically better in the long run.
If the Village wants to make tangible improvements at the Main / Cortlandt intersection while the bigger plan is being worked out, you can implement quick build traffic calming measures.
Materials like heavy blocks, heavy planters, jersey barriers, flexible posts, [and plastic humps.]
- Close the slip lane.
- Shorten the southern crosswalk by:
- Adding a large curb extensions on southbound Depot Pz at the southwest corner (where the H-Bridge lands) to the station area "gateway" one lane wide.
- "Extending" the median past the crosswalk using large heavy objects on the north side of the existing crosswalk.
- Adding a curb extension on northbound Depot Pz at the southeast corner, closing the right turn lane.
- Implement a demonstration project of a roundabout. (Photo attached.)
You may have seen the walking / cycling path being built along Broadway between Route 119 and the OCA at Lyndhurst. (FYI, the path was going to end at the hotel driveway, but the Bike Tarrytown crew showed up in force at the public meetings and got the path extended to the OCA!)
But the path has a fatal flaw. At the JCC's exit driveway, the Thruway Authority's engineers prioritized the speed and convenience of people driving instead of safety. We wrote the Authority's Executive Director, Board Chair, and our Legislators saying safety fixes are urgently needed. We need you to do the same:
Frank Hoare <frank.hoare@thruway.ny.gov>, Joanne Mahoney <joanne.mahoney@thruway.ny.gov>, "Andrea Stewart-Cousins" <scousins@nysenate.gov>, Martin Ascher <ascher@nysenate.gov>, MaryJane Shimsky <shimskym@nyassembly.gov>, Alyssa Jacobs <jacobsas@nyassembly.gov>
Send a copy to our local journalists, too:
letters@thehudsonindependent.com, publisher@rivertownsmedia.com
Dear Mr Hoare:
The Authority is building a side path along Route 9 in Tarrytown as part of Contract TANY 22-24. Where the path crosses the JCC's exit driveway, the engineers prioritized the speed and convenience of people driving instead of safety. An urgent safety fix is needed.
Here is a video showing 22 seconds of the situation: https://biketarrytown.org/int/2024-07-24-jcc-exit-zoom-through-and-waiting-on-pa th.mp4
The video shows vegetation on the left obscuring visibility, someone drive their vehicle across the path without stopping, and another person have their car blocking the path while waiting for a break in traffic.
Some simple, quick actions that need to be taken:
- uproot and remove that vegetation
- add a stop hump on the driveway a foot before the stop sign
- add signs saying to yield to people using the path
- add signs saying to not block the path
- paint a crosswalk
- make the exit right turn only
- make the exit one lane wide to prevent vehicles blocking visibility for people driving in the other lane
When the Thruway Authority's replied, they had the audacity to dump the problem on the JCC! We immediately shot back.
Thank you for the prompt reply and to the team for rapidly addressing the vegetation.
The State's new right of way extends about one foot west of the path pavement's edge, so it is possible to establish the stop bump and erect crossing signs without involving the JCC.
Property rights aside, the Thruway Authority and its engineers are obligated to create safe infrastructure. That has not happened here. Please rectify the situation.
The State Department of Transportation is asking what people want to prioritize. Please give them your opinion at: https://publicinput.com/g4063
Pro Tip: Call out how they combined "right-sized" in with "well-maintained." In the comment box on the following tab, we said that statement is too broad. Highway widenings must end. The "right-sizing" needed is narrowing State roads in commercial and residential areas.
The actions above are just a fraction of what our Director has been up to. (We'll post more in the next newsletter.) Help keep this work going with your financial support: https://biketarrytown.org/donate.php
biketarrytown.org | info@biketarrytown.org | B: @biketarrytown.bsky.social | F: @BikeTarrytn