City, county at odds over road jurisdiction

City lawmakers want to make “Glen Street Extension” a oneway road to reduce traffic going to and from the Golden Hill Health Care Center, but a county official says they do not have the jurisdiction to do so.

Discussion about the volume of traffic on Glen Street in the city has come to the Common Council’s General Government and Public Safety Committee on several occasions over the past few years. On Wednesday, the committee voted to make “Glen Street Extension” a one-way road, which would allow traffic to exit the Golden Hill complex and travel down that stretch of road to Glen Street itself. The change would prevent motorists from taking Glen Street to enter the complex.

The committee’s vote was made despite questions from some members about their jurisdiction over the access road.

Glen Street resident Matthew Colangelo, who has spearheaded efforts to address what he says is an excessive amount of traffic on his road going to and from Golden Hill, said the access road was not properly created and the state Department of Transportation has no record of it. He added that in an April 7 letter, Ulster County Legislature Chairman Ken Ronk told him it was a city matter.

In the letter, Ronk wrote he had been “assured that any changes to the traffic flow pattern of, or access to, Glen Street lies firmly with the city.”

On Friday, Ronk said he was referring to Glen Street itself, not the county property. Deputy County Executive Robert Sudlow also said Friday that the access road in question is a county road. He said Golden Hill has an easement for that road and the county has repeatedly said the complex should have an ingress and egress from it.

City Assistant Corporation Counsel Daniel Gartenstein said Friday that “Glen Street Extension” does not exist. He also said the road in question is part of the Golden Hill complex and owned by the county.

Gartenstein said the matter will be discussed during a Common Council caucus meeting Monday, but he expects it will not be moved to a vote by the full council during its meeting Tuesday.

“I cannot understand why there is such reluctance to address and fix this well-known and dangerous public safety issue,” Colangelo said in an email Friday afternoon. “It seems like anytime there is progress, attempts are made to prevent it, and I, along with the residents of Glen and Marius Street, cannot understand why.”

The Golden Hill Health Care Center was run by Ulster County before being taken over by a private company in June 2013.