Last week, a public meeting was held by the Department of Transportation (DOT), in order to clue the community into their current and future plans for the Scajaquada Expressway. Community watchdog group, The Scajaquada Corridor Coalition (SCC), attended the meeting, and came away with a sense that the plans were not heading in the right direction.
For years, much of the community has been asking for the expressway to be downgraded into a boulevard that would pay tribute to this city’s world renowned architectural and urban design heritage – not its Urban Renewal mistakes. According to the SCC, the DOT is not doing its part to reconnect Delaware Park through traffic calming efforts. The following is from the SCC:
Our concerns specifically include the following:
Why was there not a more detailed discussion on the short-term traffic calming measures that, according to the timeline provided, could be the only alterations made for the next 4 to 6 years? We believe the proposed short-term measures on display last night do not go far enough with creating a road condition conducive to the 30 mph speed limit. We want NYSDOT to immediately install all of the community supported short-term measures in the 2005 EPP that was previously shared.
Why is the main purpose of the long-term project focused on developing a “prudent transportation facility” instead of addressing revitalization of the city, economic development, improved health and safety, reduction in carbon emissions, or building quality of life?
The presentation format seemed to ignore the community’s concerns and felt contrary to the urgency, energy, and focused attention we had expected to follow Governor Cuomo’s call to action.
The presenters showed no interest or willingness to address the complete Scajaquada Corridor. Specifically, when asked about Main Street, attendees were told that it was too difficult and expensive to implement, and would not be considered despite this interchange being included in the initial 2007 NYSDOT study of the corridor, as demonstrated below.