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RHINEBECK SURVEY RESULTS
Issue #4: Improving Transportation

This is the fourth in a series of columns about the results of the recent, town-wide survey distributed by the Comprehensive Plan Committee. Previous columns discussed community character, residential development and business development. For a complete presentation of survey results, log onto The Rhinebeck Plan Web site - www.TheRhinbeckPlan.org

By: Kerri Karvetski

September 2, 2004

©Gazette Advertiser 2004

Get on your feet, Rhinebeck. It's time to think outside your car.

Earlier this year the Town Comprehensive Plan Committee found that the resounding majority of surveyed residents want new development to be compact and pedestrian-friendly like the village. More than 91 percent want town roads designed for pedestrians and bicycles; 82 percent desire walking paths and hiking and biking trails; and 80 percent voted in favor of building pedestrian and public transit into new development. Clearly a pedestrian-oriented community is important to respondents.

To meet these needs, the committee will begin exploring a transportation infrastructure, this fall, which supports open space preservation, enhances community character and offers choices of travel options.

Cars no longer king

Traditional transportation design sought to get people to places as fast as possible via cars - often with little thought to the impacts on neighborhoods and pedestrians. Progressive transportation planning is mindful of community needs and uses multiple traffic modes, such as transit-oriented development, bike paths and sidewalks, to improve safety and enhance quality of life. Traffic calming measures are also used to reduce vehicle speeds.

Hudson Valley places such as Tivoli and Fishkill, plus communities in Williamsburg, VA, and Beaverton, OR, have deployed traffic calming initiatives to create environments where cars are no longer king, and where it's easier to walk than drive. There's full access for vehicles, but not high speeds.

Some traffic calming examples include:

• Textured pavement: Includes the use of stamped pavement or alternate paving materials to emphasize either an entire intersection or a pedestrian crossing. Any street crossing in the Village is an apt candidate for this assist - a good solution Village strollers, but also a great safety precaution as children and adults, alike, walk from the Village to the Town Recreation Park to play tennis, swim, or participate in games. Other areas for "stand-out" pavements include any and all pedestrian crossings in the hamlet of Rhinecliff and pedestrian crossings on Route 9 - accessing the Fairgrounds and shopping centers, for example.
• Bulbouts: Curb extensions at intersections that reduce the roadway width from curb to curb. They create safer intersections by shortening crossing distances for pedestrians and drawing attention to pedestrians via raised peninsulas. Locally, both Tivoli and Fishkill have adopted this approach.
• Roundabouts: Used on higher volume streets to slow and circulate traffic counterclockwise around a center island. This might be a good solution for such high-traffic areas as the intersection of Routes 9 and 9G in Rhinebeck, for example - a possibility requiring not only further study, but DOT approval, as well.
• Rural road protection: Ensuring that the rural roads in Town are not widened. Rural roads should remain narrow and winding, with vegetation kept close to the street, encouraging traffic to remain as slow as possible. Each time a road is widened (such as Vlei Road and Pells Road), traffic speeds up, making drivers happier, but pedestrians and bicyclists nervous, unhappy and unsafe.

These techniques plus many others can help address residents' concerns about the burgeoning number of cars in our town and the problems that they cause pedestrians. All it really takes is thinking outside the car.

Note: Traffic calming definitions courtesy of www.trafficcalming.org.

Who we are and how to reach us

The Comprehensive Plan Committee is a 22-member panel of Rhinebeck residents representing diverse backgrounds and interests, working to develop an updated, creative Comprehensive Plan for the future. Please give the Committee the benefit of your point of view by writing info@TheRhinebeckPlan.org or joining a discussion board at www.TheRhinebeckPlan.org

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The Town of Rhinebeck Comprehensive Plan Town Hall 80 East Market Street  -  Rhinebeck, New York  12572 therhinebeckplan.org copyright 2004