EDWARD SIM VILLAGE OF COLONIE DEPUTY MAYOR VILLAGE HALL PATTY SCHWARZ LOCKART 2 THUNDER ROAD TRUSTEE COLONIE, NY 12205 JAMES M. RUBINO (518) 869-7562 FAX (518) 464-0389 TRUSTEE THOMAS J. TOBIN MAYOR ART WHITE TRUSTEE jblot@colonievillage.org www.colonievillage.org JAMIE BLOT CLERK MINUTES TRAFFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2022 6:30 P.M. Roll Call: Chairman, Frank Prevratil Dan Hornick John Gillivan George Lashoff Les Samiof Liaison Sim Coordinator Douglas Dan Judge (Absent) CPD Liaison Officer DePaulo (Absent) Kevin France Chairman Prevratil opened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance, and requested all electronic devices be turned off or muted. Minutes of the regularly scheduled meeting that was held on December 09, 2021, were reviewed and amended. Mr. Hornick made a motion to approve the minutes. Mr. Lashoff seconded the motion. VOTE: All in favor of the motion. Chairman Prevratil asked Coordinator Douglas if any residents have reached out with any concerns for the committee. Coordinator Douglas stated that a resident from Broderick St. had sent an email about vehicles speeding down the street going 45-55 MPH. Coordinator Douglas left a message with the resident on Monday asking if they could get plate numbers or make and model of the vehicles so Colonie PD could be notified. Coordinator Douglas also let the resident know that our Traffic Meeting Committee was tonight at 6:30pm and she was welcome to join and discuss her issue. The resident has not called back, and the email was also forwarded to Chairman Prevratil. Mr. Gillivan spoke with Mr. Fleshman 2 weeks ago regarding the Centennial Bike Rodeo. Mr. Fleshman would like to meet with Mr. Gillivan and Chairman Prevratil to discuss any needs they may have. Mr. Gillivan stated that the rules have changed a little this year, Safety Officers will need to take the lead. An email has been sent to Officer DePaulo to coordinate. At the last Bike Rodeo helmets were handed out and 2 bicycles were raffled. Mr. Gillivan and Chairman Prevratil would like to do the same this year. They believe the PBA & Fire Department donated the previous bicycles. The Bike Rodeo will be held on Saturday, July 16th. There will be a traffic table set up at the event. If anyone has any input, please reach out to Chairman Prevratil or Mr. Gillivan. Mr. Gillivan has also been in contact with Officer DePaulo for the Jeremy Williams fatality, the Cyclist that was hit on Central Ave. The investigation is still going. Mr. Gillivan stated that he is part of a group called “Ride of Silence” which is associated with the white bicycles you see where there was a cyclist fatality. The group rides to the location of accidents and reads off the cyclist’s name. Mr. Gillivan has reached out to Pine Grove Methodist to coordinate a May 18th ride. He is also looking for assistance from Colonie Police with traffic. The group will travel from Pine Grove Methodist church to Tanglewood Road and then return to the church. Mr. Gillivan asked if anything has been happening with the DOT Safety Publicity Campaign. Mr. Hornick has stated that he has put together a proposal and will email to Coordinator Douglas so it can be forwarded to the Traffic Committee members. If anyone has any questions or comments, please email Mr. Hornick. Mr. Richie Stack from 53 Nicholas Dr attended to express concern over traffic in his neighborhood. His first concern is many people running the stop sign at Peachtree Land and Nicholas Dr. He stated that the neighborhood has recently changed and now there are a lot of younger families with smaller children. He is looking to see if the police department could take a ride through. He also stated that weekends are the worst. Liaison Sim said we would reach out to officer DePaulo. He also suggested the Traffic Committee send a letter to residents in the neighborhood. Mr. Hornick suggested getting lines on the street like they have on Harriet St. Mr. Stack stated that traffic coming out of the pizza place is a bad spot as well. Nash Place is not really an issue, but Peachtree Lane is the worst. Chairman Prevratil likes the idea of the lines on the street. Mr. Stack’s second issue is where exit 2W gets off onto Central Ave. Nobody yields off that exit, some come off the exit going 30-40 MPH. He was wondering if there is a possibility of placing a flashing light there for caution. Mr. Hornick agrees that this is an issue and Chairman Prevratil likes the idea of the flashing light. Page 2 of 5 Liaison Sim stated that if we move forward with the Safety Publicity Campaign with DOT we could make this part of it. Could Mr. Stack help with a petition if needed? Mr. Stack said that he would help. Chairman Prevratil stated that the DOT neglect on Central Ave is something that the Traffic Committee has noticed. We are still trying and will not give up. We are hoping that the letter Mr. Hornick has typed up and a Safety Publicity Campaign will help. Chairman Prevratil asked if there is any other new business. The Board members said “No”. Also, has anyone been checking for street light outages. Coordinator Douglas reminded everyone that they can call Village Hall with any outages or email her directly. Chairman Prevratil would like to hold off on Drive Campaign signs until Mr. Judge returns. Liaison Sim announced that there is great news regarding the Sand Creek Rd Linkage Study. It has been approved and is in the last stage of public comment. This is our first, so we are not sure how the actual process works. He will keep everyone updated as he gets more information. We can then get a plan in place so when the transportation improvement is ready, we will be ready. Phase 1 is great for the Village. Liaison Sim also stated that once the weather breaks, we can get the counters back out and get some more data. Mr. Lashoff suggested placing a counter near Sunset Blvd. Liaison Sim mentioned that someone had asked if Sand Creek Rd can be lowered to a 25 MPH speed limit. Mr. France stated that this could be addressed as part of the linkage study. Mr. Gillivan said the good news is that Sand Creek Rd is not owned by DOT. It is owned by the Village and the Town of Colonie. Mr. France stated that we are the governing agency because we maintain the road. The town can only go to 30 MPH, but the Village can go to 25 MPH. He also reminded the committee that we could possibly lose funding by doing this. Liaison Sim stated that there will be a public meeting through the Traffic Committee, where the public can come and express concerns. Mr. Gillivan asked if the Traffic Committee can or should provide some bullets points. Liaison Sim said that everyone will have input. Page 3 of 5 Liaison Sim mentioned that there is more good news for the Village. We have also received approval from Senator Neil Breslin’s office to purchase speed awareness signs. We have a $50,000 grant which could be used for variable message boards, slow down signage, mobile trailers, speed radar signs, etc. Liaison Sim had asked Mr. France to get some pricing on Radar Speed Signs. Mr. France had received pricing from JC Smith. The radar speed signs are $3,300 per unit, with the Village installing. Liaison Sim passed out a flyer to the committee members showing the signs. Liaison Sim suggested that we start with 4 Radar Speed Signs and place them on 2 streets. Possibly Sand Creek Rd and Lincoln Ave. We can then evaluate and purchase more if needed. Mr. Lashoff asked if the signs can be mounted on the same pole as a Speed Limit Sign. Mr. Gillivan asked if the signs are solar. Liaison Sim answered yes to both questions. Liaison Sim also stated that these signs can be moved if we decide there is a location they will benefit more. Mr. Hornick mentioned possible signs on Red Fox Dr and Locust Pk. Liaison Sim stated that we could probably purchase 8 signs. Mr. France stated the lead time for these signs is 7-8 weeks. We would order and pay for the signs up front and be reimbursed through the State. Liaison Sim mentioned that having the trailer will be nice also. Although, we can not use the trailer on Central Ave there are plenty of other options we could use it for. Water breaks, School’s Back, Concerts in the park, etc. Liaison Sim stated he is still working on getting the remainder of the paving complete this year. Gert Ln, Tattersall Ln, and Cottonwood Pl are still on the list. Last year it was difficult to get a contractor. Mr. Gillivan also mentioned paving on Bridle Path near Hunting Rd. Liaison Sim stated he will send someone to take a look. Liaison Sim said he is also trying to get the striping done this year too. He mentioned Hunting Rd and Holland Ave and anywhere else that needs to be added. Mr. Lashoff asked if it was possible to put a bus stop sign on Red Fox Dr or possible moving the bus stop. He also asked if there could be a “Crossroad/Intersection Ahead” sign on Red Fox Dr. Mr. France stated that these signs usually require 200-300 feet in advance. He stated that there are no measurements etched in stone and are usually based off the engineer’s judgement. Page 4 of 5 Liaison Sim asked if Mr. France could look into a sign and measurements to see if it is possible. Liaison Sim announced that him and Mr. France would be meeting soon to discuss all Village signage. Mr. Samiof made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:28 PM. Mr. Lashoff seconded the motion. VOTE: All in favor of the motion. Respectfully, Stacie Douglas Traffic Safety Coordinator Page 5 of 5