Coalition for a Livable West Side Needs You to Come to the UWS Traffic Meeting
Presentation by the Department of Transportation
West Side Transportation Study Findings
Traffic on the West Side (W. 55th – W. 86th Streets)
Central Park West to Hudson River
on Tuesday, September 22, 2009
at John Jay College, Gerald W. Lynch Theater
899 Tenth Avenue (between West 58th and West 59th Street)
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Two years after the “Public Listening Session” and after the Fordham University Expansion Plan has been approved and DOT will give its report and once again do it at an early starting time.
Please read the following background.
NYCDOT PLAN TO STUDY WEST SIDE TRAFFIC BACKGROUND
NYC DOT’s Plan to Study Traffic on the West Side -W. 55th – W. 86th Streets, Central Park West to Hudson River
*In May 2006, the NYC Department of Transportation issued a “Scope of Services for West Side Manhattan Traffic and Transportation Study”. A Public Hearing is mandatory and should have been held shortly after that announcement..
* Sixteen months later, a “Public Listening Session” was held on September 24, 2007 “to obtain community input in the study and the development of recommended measures.”
* The “Scope of Services” clearly states, “The outreach effort will involve the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and various constituents in the planning process throughout a series of presentations and meetings. There was only one “Listening Session”.
* As far as we can ascertain, the September 24, 2007 “Public Listening Session”, was the first time that Community Board 7, our elected officials and interested groups and civic organizations had an opportunity to participate although they are listed as members of the TAC. The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) members: (Federal Highway Administration (FHWA); Federal Transit Administration (FTA); New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT); New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT); New York City Department of City Planning (DCP); Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA); New York City Transit (NYCT), Manhattan borough elected officials and community groups.
* The format established by DOT’s consultants for the “Public Listening Session”, was unusual for a Public Scoping meeting. There were panels that met in separate areas and the summation at the end of the session was poorly attended. So the participants never really heard all the concerns of their neighbors.
* The NYCDOT’s consultants never responded to any submitted materials or comments that were emailed or emailed including an important analysis of the DOT’s Scope of Services submitted by the Coalition for a Livable West Side’s Traffic Engineer, Ken H. Kaliski. Mr. Kaliski concluded that the data collection and analysis may not be sufficient for the complexity of travel patterns in the designated study area and made these recommendations:
“The program for traffic counts will not work well for congested intersections. When you do a standard traffic count, you are counting the number of vehicles that pass through an intersection. For an intersection that is over capacity, you are thus counting the capacity of the intersection and not the actual demand. Therefore, for congested intersections, it is important to conduct a “delay study”. In these types of studies, you are counting the actual demand and vehicular delays at the intersection – not just the number of cars that are able to pass through. At the very least, the contractor should do a few delay studies at the most congested intersections to calibrate the HCM model.”
“The automatic traffic recorder (ATR) data only covers a week. It would be good to set up at least one long-term monitoring station, if one does not already exist. This is usually done by installing loops in the pavement and setting up a more-or-less permanent counter. This way you can keep track of seasonal variations in traffic volumes, special events, and, if you make it a permanent counter, annual trends.”
“We recommend doing a traffic simulation in addition to the HCM analysis. Given the complexities of the coordinated traffic light system and grid streets in the study area, a simulation model will allow the community to get a better idea of how bottlenecks impact adjacent intersections, and if the right software is used, it can be used to model the effects of various traffic improvements, such as ramp closures, new developments, and additional capacity.”
“Through-traffic is very important in this study area. We recommend that an origin/destination study be conducted to determine the extent of through traffic and the paths that are taken. License plate matching can be used at the major arteries, such as the Miller Highway, West End Avenue, Broadway and the major cross streets.”
* The consultants’ submitted “The Public Listening Session Meeting Summary” dated December 13, 2007 to NYCDOT. No community organization or attendee received a copy of that report.
* The consultants’ “The Public Listening Session Meeting Summary” concerning the West 72nd Street ramp issue stated, ” In preparation for this meeting, staff from Councilwoman Gale Brewer’s office as well as Community Board 7 members indicated that the West 72nd Street Ramp Closure was the largest hot-button issue that could arise from discussions at the public listening sessions. Interestingly enough, only one of the breakout groups even discussed the closure at all. Several days after the public listening session roughly 70 comment sheets and emails were submitted on the topic of the West 72nd Street Ramp Closure alone. This is likely due to a large membership of a neighborhood organization pushing for its members to submit their comments.” [Italics and bold added for emphasis by the Coalition.] This editorial comment does not belong in this summary!
* Coalition questioned both the early starting time and the format of the “Listening Session”. We believed and still believe that holding the session in the auditorium would have allowed every participant the opportunity to hear all that was said without the filtering of “note takers”.
Sincerely,
Madeleine Polayes, President
Batya Lewton, Vice-President