Repaving
Our cities are repaving. It’s great that pot holes are getting fixed, but did you know that Albany & Troy also must make common sense safety improvements while repaving per their own ordinances?
-
Albany and Troy are required to make complete streets improvements through Complete Streets Ordinances when doing maintenance, but they are not even making basic improvements through striping.
-
Streets and sidewalks are intended to last 20 years, that means it may be a generation before there’s another opportunity to make significant improvements to a street.
High speeds, high risk/dangerous
Painting an extra line is extremely affordable
It will be years before there’s another opportunity to make changes during regular maintenance (average road lifespan is typically ~20 years)
-
Some common-sense improvements (not just fixing pot holes) are being blatantly ignored by the cities of Albany and Troy when repaving a street.
Bike lanes/lane narrowing, crosswalks, stop bars (just paint), and improvements to where parking is and is not allowed could and should be happening during repaving efforts, but cities are ignoring their own plans on what improvements should look like.
“The City shall approach every phase of every transportation project as an opportunity to create safer, more accessible facilities for all users. These phases include, but are not limited to: planning, programming, design, right-of-way acquisition, construction, construction engineering, reconstruction, operation and maintenance funded by the City of Troy, the State of New York, utility companies and all private development. Other changes to transportation facilities on streets and rights-of-way, including capital improvements, rechannelization projects and maintenance, must also be included.”
“For all street construction, reconstruction, or resurfacing projects [as per Section C(2)][1] that are undertaken by the City and not covered under the New York State Complete Streets Law contained in § 331 of the Highway Law,[2] the department planning such project shall consider the convenient access and mobility on the street by all users of all ages, including motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, and public transportation users through the use of complete street design features in the planning, design, construction, reconstruction and resurfacing, but not including maintenance or emergency projects.”
Past Failures
Spring Ave (Troy)
Forest Ave (Albany)
“When our street was being repaved last year, I was really excited. I bike to work and the City’s bike plan. Then the City just repaved it and didn’t add any improvements or a bike lane - now people are constantly speeding up and down my block. It’s dangerous, super noisy, and really disappointing.” - Troy Community Member
“Residents had requested speed humps, sidewalks, and other traffic calming measures on Forest Avenue near Hackett Blvd because of heavy traffic and pedestrian use near Albany Academy. The City resurfaced Forest Ave in 2021 without adding any traffic calming measures or sidewalks as recommended by the City’s Complete Streets Design Manual. Residents have been told they need to wait until the street is resurfaced again to have infrastructure added to the roadway.” - Albany Community Member
