Bike lanes, raised crosswalks, and improved maintenance could help make Troy’s downtown corridor safer for pedestrians, according to draft plans from the Capital Region Transportation Council.
As part of its Vision Zero Safety Action Plan, meant to reduce fatal and serious injuries, the Capital Region Transportation Council invited the public to comment and ask questions Monday on draft concepts for several roadways and intersections in the downtown corridor.
Roadways in need of safety improvements include River Street from Grant Street to Hutton Street, 4th Street from Broadway to Grand Street, King Street from Federal Street to River Street, and Federal Street from the Green Island Bridge to 5th Avenue.
Matthew Roe with engineer Stantec says between 2019 and 2023, there were more than 240 crashes involving vulnerable road users like bicyclists and pedestrians.
Some attendees mentioned safety issues including missing or disconnected bicycle infrastructure, poorly maintained sidewalks, concerns over winter maintenance, and dangerous intersection crossings. Referring to the intersection of the Green Island Bridge and River, King, and Federal Streets, Roe says over five years, there were nearly 90 crashes there.
“We want to eliminate as much as we can of the risk at this intersection. There are long crossing distances and long wait times for walk signal, long wait times for green light, and that's partially result of how wide the intersection is and how the signals have had to be timed to accommodate people crossing such wide, such long crosswalk, such wide streets,” Roe said.
Recommendations include adding so-called refuge islands along the crosswalk, widening the path itself, and adding a protected bike lane.
At 4th Street and River Street, pedestrians say they face similar problems. Recommendations include adding a bus lane and raising the crosswalks. On King Street, officials recommend making the already one-way street into a single lane with a buffered bike lane and additional parking. And on River Street, a one-way parallel with King Street, officials say defining the motor vehicle lane space, adding a protected bike lane, and adding more loading zones would increase pedestrian safety.
The plan is a collaboration with local cities like Albany, Saratoga Springs, and Watervliet, and the Village of Green Island. Studies were made possible by a $1.15 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration and additional support from the state Department of Transportation.
Under the state DOT, Green Island Bridge will be redesigned to include a walking and bike path on the north side of the roadway. Officials say the work springing from the safety plan will tie into work completed by the state.
Chris Marini, Troy’s engineer, says the plan is nearly everything the city has been looking for.
“The draft plan was like almost completely in line with a lot of the mayor's priorities in terms of improving pedestrian safety through traffic calming and crosswalk improvements and bump-outs, it’s a priority for her,” Marini said.
Marini says the city has applied for a grant through the safe streets for all for the River Street Corridor as well as working toward saving money to embark on a seawall walkway project. Marini adds he supports reducing speed limits from 30 miles per hour across the city, but there is more work to be done regarding incident hotspots before a speed reduction could be a reality.
Sara Constantineau is with Highland Planning, which is part of the project team. Constantineau, who moderated the comments from the community, says residents want cameras at intersections to passively and actively lessen speeds. She says the plan is taking into account work that has already been done or is currently being worked on.
“The corridor concepts reflect not only the Capital Streets complete the Capital District Complete Streets design guide, as well as the Federal Street Corridor Study,” Constantineau said. “So, this helped us get a sense of the context of the study corridor, and also some of the issues or opportunities related to network gaps or existing use of the study corridor.”
Input gathered over the next few weeks will be taken into consideration during the final stages of development while funding opportunities are pursued.
