Residents of a Rensselaer County town are tired of worsening congestion and are calling for changes.
Heading west on Route 7 through Troy and Brunswick, drivers and pedestrians head through a bustling roadway peppered with small and commercial shops, fast food chains, doctors’ offices, and more.
In recent decades, development along the road has supported Troy’s, Sycaway’s, and Brunswick’s economies.
But residents say it’s also led to heavier traffic — making the roadway increasingly dangerous over the last three decades.
At a Capital Region Transportation Council meeting Wednesday, the planning committee reviewed the results of the Brunswick Hoosick Road Corridor Study conducted by Creighton Manning, an Albany-based engineering firm.
Mark Sargent of Creighton Manning presented the study to the committee, highlighting problems and potential solutions.
Sargent says fixes wouldn’t necessarily reduce travel time along the 2.5-mile corridor, but could keep it from getting worse as the area continues to develop.
“Instead of taking 12 minutes to travel through the corridor, it's going to take 14 or 15 minutes to travel 2.5-miles. And if you can get the coordination in there and a couple of these spot improvements, travel time will come back down to where it is today,” Sargent said. “So, it's not very good, but at least it isn't further deterioration.”
Traffic mitigation suggestions include coordinating more traffic signals, a roundabout at the Lord Avenue and Route 142 intersections, and the relocation or elimination of low-volume bus stops.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Capital District Transportation Authority said in part, "CDTA will work with the town and other community partners to identify the best location for bus stops and amenities for our customers. At the same time, these locations need to be coordinated so that all traffic can flow smoothly and efficiently along Hoosick Street… At the end of the day, more transit use will ease congestion and the anxieties that it creates."
During a separate community meeting Wednesday, residents said the town isn’t listening to their complaints about congestion and overdevelopment. Town Councilman Mark Cipperly, a Republican, countered the complaints, saying the council is listening.
“The folks that think that we're not haven't been to those board meetings to see just how diligent those folks are about the jobs that they have. You know, I would suggest that they start with that, see what goes on, find out that there is a place in the process for them to have a say and if they're still not satisfied, then we should talk further,” Cipperly said.
The study looked at the section of Hoosick Road between Lake Avenue and NYS Route 142, or Grange Road. At its peak, the road sees more than 25,000 cars per day, making travel time predictions unreliable between noon and 6 p.m., often taking more than 12 minutes to travel through the corridor, a 45-miles per hour zone.
Sargent says widening the roadway is off the table.
“It's not consistent with regional practice and funding policies, but it was the elephant in the room, and we knew we needed to address it in some regard,” Sargent said. “So, the study did look at that a little bit and at least explain it as part of the public involvement process, why widening was not appropriate here.”
Sandy Misiewicz, the Executive Director for the Capital Region Transportation Council, says the construction of Interstate 787 contributed to the influx of traffic in the region.
“I think one of the things we can do in the longer-term is take some lessons learned from what's happened in this area, from the perspective of both land use and transportation, because there's some choices that have been made over the years that have completely restricted and kind of tied the hands of all of us in terms of what we can even do there, because of how it built out,” Misiewicz said. “So that's why the land use planning piece has to be a part of the conversation when we talk about transportation.”
The future of 787 is being discussed with a number of possibilities for reimagining the riverfront highway.
A November traffic study submitted by Maries Muse LLC, the developer of a proposed Chick-Fil-A along the road, finds that during peak evening travel hours, traffic could increase by up to nearly 200 additional vehicles, roughly half drawn from traffic already in the area. Residents say the town doesn’t have the infrastructure to support the continued development.
Other proposed construction in the area includes eight single family homes and 250 apartments, where more than 150 additional vehicles are expected to enter the roadway during peak travel time.
Resident Jim Tkacik says the town should revisit its comprehensive plan. He says many plans in the 2013 document have gone untouched.
“We have to start a new comprehensive plan now,” Tkacik said. “If it takes two years, it's actually get done until 2026 which is going to leave a gap of 13 years in between, and you miss a lot of things that have happened since then. For example, nothing to do with route seven. But, for example, the zoning, the comprehensive plan makes no mention whatsoever about solar energy and solar fields, which is a big topic now, OK, but a lot of other things you just have to keep up. You have to keep moving with this.”
Brunswick Town Supervisor Philip Herrington did not respond to requests for comment.
More information about the study can be found here or at hoosickroadstudy.com.
