Troy City Council President Carmella Mantello is calling on the mayor to take immediate emergency action to address dangerous crosswalks throughout the city.
Mantello says she’s renewing her annual call to deal with the issue, saying Democratic Mayor Patrick Madden’s administration is dragging its feet on re-striping busy intersections.
"Get these crosswalks and signage up immediately," Mantello said. "It's a danger to children who are walking to school. It's a danger for motorists. It's a danger for pedestrians, bikers, you name it. And it's very frustrating. They've been contracting out here and there, the contracting now it has not worked so well. So the mayor in his budget request for last year came to a very high level where I, along with other council members were asking why is this not being done. It's government 101, it's very simple, it's not rocket science. So the mayor stated he needed a paint machine, a striping machine so we put in the budget money for a striping machine, and here we are going into May, and I've talked to staff, and staff has stated they're gonna get out there but it's excuse after excuse."
Mantello, a Republican, is running to replace Madden, who is up against the two-term limit. She says the arrival of warm weather moved her to call for emergency action.
"Frear Park intersection hits me immediately," Mantello said. "The folks in that neighborhood have been calling for two three years for just simple striping and crosswalks. When the streets are milled and paved, some of the crosswalks are being done over by Frear Park neighborhood. That was never done and that was recently paved. Over on the east side, there are several intersections, Vandenburgh, Mill, some major intersections, Morrison, and you know, literally twice, three times a week I'm getting phone calls, messages from folks requesting crosswalk painting, striping, signage."
Third District Councilor Sue Steele is on the Public Safety Committee.
"I do know that we've had a delay in paint," Steele said. "And I think this deferred maintenance is partially due to the ramification of the pandemic. But I do think we need to ramp up the efforts to promote pedestrian safety and that starts with crosswalks."
Steele and 4th district councilor Emily Menn are running for Council President, a citywide post, and will face off in June’s Democratic primary. Menn, who also serves on the Public Safety Committee, says she's on the same page.
"It is extremely important to,you know when we when we allocate funds to make sure that you know all those projects are being accomplished," said Menn. "And also the timelines are being communicated and that's something that's very simple. written for the mayor's office to do is to communicate what's being done when and if there is a delay, why, so the public understands."
Madden spokesperson Frank Sainato provided a recorded statement in response to a request for comment.
"The city of Troy is already taking swift action to protect pedestrians with striping curb replacement and ADA compliance projects well underway from the northern parts of Lansingburgh to the southernmost neighborhoods of Troy. As city council president for nearly a decade, it is curious that infrastructure maintenance is suddenly a priority now that they're a political candidate for mayor. The Madden administration is committed to the safety of our families and governance as such," said Sainato.
Mantello's response:
"My opponents can say what they want. Folks in the city of Troy and residents know that I'm fighting for them day in and day out, this is nothing new. And this is something that I've really championed and tried to get the Madden Administration to address and for the last four or five years," Mantello said.
