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Walkable Villages?
Complete Streets Off & Running @ Joint Meeting...

WAWARSING – The first signs of "Compete Streets" solidarity between the village of Ellenville and town of Wawarsing took root as program guru Kristen Wilson laid out program particulars during a joint workshop meeting last Wednesday, October 8.

With joint municipality draft resolution in hand, the Senior Resource Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County presented a power-point demonstration outlining the benefits, strategies and past examples of the Complete Streets program — and how they can be implemented within the local community. Additionally, Brian Slack, Senior Transportation Planner with Ulster County Transportation Council, gave the low-down on funding for the program, ranging from federal funds to local grants.

"It's obviously an interesting proposition," village mayor Jeff Kaplan said, noting that the village has been ahead of the curve on this... specifically with road modifications near the Ellenville post office to slow traffic, as well as the village's commitment to Safe Routes to School, a similar road infrastructure program designed to create safer, walkable routes to school for children. Both, he noted, are fully funded and slated to start next construction season, with Safe Routes set to include the establishment of a number of handicap street ramps starting at Kossar Place and moving towards Ellenville Central School District.

Like Safe Routes, Complete Streets — according to Wilson — is designed and operated for safe street access for all users including pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists of varying ages and abilities. The benefits, she continued, include safety, health, and economic development and all point to a more livable community.

While Ellenville had approved a complete streets policy in 2012, the town has not. By adopting such a policy and creating one joint Complete Streets Advisory Council (CSAC) to pool funding and interested parties, Kaplan said, the town and village could henceforth show that "we're one community" and serve as another example of the ongoing state-wide initiative for shared services.

"Clearly, this is an area we can work together," Kaplan said.

The Council is designed, after program resolution approval, as the next step towards the development of Complete Streets projects, along with the entity for setting shared policy recommendations. In addition, the CSAC can serve as a think-tank of like-minded community individuals set on establishing safer routes around the greater community.

Projects, as indicated by the presentation, can range from low-cost signage to high-cost road crossings and medians. By forming a joint CSAC, Kaplan said, the municipalities can show a greater economic need, quite important given that grants for such projects are competitive.

"We need this for selling our community to the outside world and making it more livable for our residents," Kaplan said. "Having safe walking and biking routes is important."

While Wawarsing town supervisor Leonard Distel agreed that Complete Streets is a worthwhile endeavor, he said the program will pertain more to the village than town, based on the rural nature of Wawarsing. However, he did add that there are some areas that could use improvement, especially along ShopRite Boulevard and a nearby stretch of Route 209, along with increased attention for Cape Avenue near Wilson's Delicatessen...where he suggested a signal light may be of use.

Additionally, Distel said, the state Department of Transportation will be installing sidewalks in Kerhonkson late next year, and he will review the project with DOT managers to align work to Complete Streets standards.

An October 22 meeting at village hall has been set for 5 p.m. for interested parties wanting to discuss the project more and to comb through the Complete Streets policy drafted by Wilson for possible adoption, to be followed by possible naming of the advisory council.



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