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report 2 pages

Also attached to this agenda item: 19-008 Croton Upper Village Report 09.19.19 2019-09-23 Croton Upper Village Traffic Study Presentation BPC Memo On Dummy Light October 2019 FW Croton Upper Village Memo Traffic Study Provident-Croton Traffic Proposal RFP - Traffic Engineering Res 19-34 Traffic Study

PROJECTS I CALM TRAFFIC IN UPPER VILLAGE​. ​[2018, RESIDENTS/VISITORS] ​The Upper Village is full of small businesses and religious institutions that are the pride of Croton, and the focal point of civic life. It is an obvious place to walk and stroll from one business to another, and many people do that. High school students also walk to the Upper Village for lunch. However, there are several points at which car-pedestrian interactions can be improved, and the streets made safer, in order to encourage more walking. Because of the complexity of this location, and the interest the public will take in any changes, ​we suggest the board view it as a two-part process, spending the first part soliciting public input and designing the changes, and the second part implementing the agreed-upon design. The tasks may be complex enough so as to warrant an outside consultant. 1. Grand Street and Old Post Road South.​ ​[HIGH PRIORITY, MODERATE COST]​ The current dummy light is inadequate to minimize pedestrian-auto conflicts because turning care will interfere with pedestrians who are following the green. In addition, the traffic light is hard to see from the sidewalk at certain angles due to sun glare. One solution would be to install on-demand pedestrian signals along the lines of what exists at Old Post Road and Maple Street: when a pedestrian presses a button, a “Walk” signal for crossings in all directions would appear at the soonest opportunity. The dummy light would remain as the sole signal for automobile traffic; however it would need to be hooked up to pedestrian signals so that it would turn red in all three directions before “walk” signal is activated. Disruption to traffic flow would be minimal because it would only turn red when a pedestrian requested to cross. In addition, the village may wish to raise the crosswalks, or install textured crosswalks, and/or square the corners to encourage motorists to take them slowly even when they have the green. Finally, the Village may consider this busy area a location for reducing speed limit to 20 miles per hour. 2. Grand Street at St. Mary’s Church. [MEDIUM PRIORITY, LOW COST]​ The green color of the crosswalk is confusing because it is unclear if it is currently a crosswalk, or used to be but has been painted over. It may also ​contradict federal guidelines​. We recommend repainting in white; whether that is possible or not, the village should add pedestrian crossing signs along Grand Street on both north- and southbound lanes of to warn motorists in advance that the crosswalk is legitimate. We also suggest bulb-outs to minimize the distance across the street; elderly parishioners often cross at this point and would appreciate the help. 3. Grand Street and Old Post Road North​. ​[HIGH PRIORITY, MEDIUM COST] Currently, the opening on the southern extension of Grand Street is extremely wide, and there is no sanctioned way to cross from north side of Old Post Road to southern side. The Croton Bike-Pedestrian P.I.E. Plan Page 5 curvature of the roads encourages drivers to turn at high speeds if coming from the Upper Village center, or to roll the stop when coming from South Riverside. Yet this is a high-traffic area, near a pediatric dentist, two churches, lawyers offices, the Municipal Building, and Upper Village businesses. We recommend: a. Adding raised or painted bulb-outs at corners of Grand Street extension (by Episcopal Church and dentist’s office). Currently, there is no parking at these corners any way. The bulb-outs reduce the amount of time pedestrians need to spend in the street and also encourage motorists to slow down as they take the turn from Old Post Road North/Grand Street. Also, move the stop signs onto the bulb-outs and add reflective bollards on either side of curb-cuts to increase visibility. b. Raise and texture the crosswalk between the bulb-outs. Doing so will also increase visibility and signal to motorists that they are in a pedestrian zone. The impact on traffic speeds will be beneficial. Cars traveling northbound along Grand Street will be halted at a stop sign anyway before turning. Cars traveling east and west along Old Post/Grand Street should be encouraged to slow when making the turn because of danger of hitting pedestrians and oncoming cars. c. Add crosswalk across Old Post/Grand Street on east and/or west sides of intersection, along with ADA-accessible curb cuts and ped-xing warning signs. School children walk along the north side of Old Post from the Farrington Road area; many cross Old Post at this point without the benefit of a crosswalk because it is a shortcut to get to middle and high schools. (SRTS) 4. Mt. Airy Road South at Grand Street, near Justin Thyme.​ [​MEDIUM PRIORITY, LOW COST​] The curved nature of this intersection encourages drivers to make the turn from northbound Grand left onto Mt. Airy very fast, even though there are several businesses nearby to which people walk. Mt. Airy South is also very wide at this point. One solution would be to add a textured or raised crosswalk, which should interfere minimally with speeds as there is a stop sign for southbound traffic, and northbound cars will be turning left and should be moving slowly. In addition, the village should consider reducing the length of the crosswalk by squaring the corners, either with a raised curb, or by painting on a yellow restricted zone. C. Grand Street and Church Street. [MEDIUM PRIORITY, LOW COST] ​Paint crosswalks across Church on east and west sides of Grand. D. Consider reducing speed limits in this multimodal, narrow-road, high-stress part of the Village. From top of Grand Street to Riverside, and from Old Post Road North to Brook Street ​and possibly beyond. (As an experiment, I’ve been driving at 20 mph through these streets, and finding it comfortable, friendly, and a way to avoid aggressive passing w/ cars in opposite lanes. -- Liza.) II EASE THE COMMUTE. [2018, BIKE COMMUTERS] ​Approximately 40 Croton residents bike to the Metro-North station every day during fair weather. They take as many as 40 cars off the village’s roads during the most crowded times of the day. However, the location of the station is far from ideal: it requires biking on high-traffic, high-speed roads with narrow shoulders, and navigating large intersections while traveling up- or downhill. Eventually, the Bike-Pedestrian Committee would like to add more bike lanes and markings to indicate safe routes to the station; in the interim, however, we suggest protecting and improving existing infrastructure: Croton Bike-Pedestrian P.I.E. Plan Page 6