Noble touts Broadway Streetscape project
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> The Broadway corridor in its current configuration is “dangerous,” but the planned Broadway Streetscape project is designed to make it safer and more efficient, Mayor Steve Noble says.
“This project is designed specifically to reduce accidents,” Noble told those attending an information session Thursday night at City Hall. “It’s designed specifically to be able to allow pedestrians to move easier around and across Broadway, to reduce the number of pedestrian accidents that we have on the corridor. And it’s designed to be able to allow traffic to move more safely and quickly through the corridor, but yet at reduced speeds so that the impact, if there is an accident, is reduced.”
Noble provided an overview of the Broadway Streetscape project, which he said is designed to improve the infrastructure of the corridor between St. James and Grand streets. Follow-
ing his presentation, attendees were invited to review a map of the proposed changes and discuss them with representatives of the engineering firm Greenman-Pedersen Inc.
“I’m really excited for it,” Midtown resident Malia Cordel said. “Especially the separated bike lanes and improved pedestrian access.” She said she bikes and walks with her child and that the Broadway improvements would make that more convenient.
City resident Scott Workman also praised the project design, noting that it looks “clean and safe.” He said reducing Broadway from four travel lanes to three would make the corridor safer and more “predictable.”
Under the Streetscape design, Broadway would be reduced from four lanes of travel to two in the project area, with a third lane strictly for vehicles that are turning.
Dr. Deepak Patel, whose office is at 518 Broadway, offered some constructive criticism during the information session. He told engineers he felt the turning lane on Broadway at the intersection to the west of Grand Street should be longer to accommodate traffic. Patel said vehicles tend to “stack up” in that area during busy times of the day and that more space is needed.
Patel said he liked the idea of more trees being planted along Broadway but urged that there be a maintenance plan for their upkeep. He said he brought his own ladder one day to prune a tree in front of his office because it needed care.
According to information from the city, beside reducing travel time and vehicle stoppages on Broadway, the project is to include new sidewalks that comply with accessibility requirements in the Americans with Disabilities Act. It is also expected to include on-street amenities such as benches, recycling containers and bus stops, as well as a dedicated twoway bicycle lane and bike racks.
The project also is to include landscape improvements to reduce stormwater runoff, and new ornamental LED lighting.
Parking in the project area of Broadway would be reduced by 25 spaces to make way for crosswalks, bus stops, loading zones and bike lane visibility.
Noble said the project would be the biggest investment in Midtown in more than 17 years and would create “curb appeal” for the city.
“When Broadway was expanded and when Broadway was built up, Midtown east and Midtown west really got separated and the neighborhood feels disjointed,” the mayor said. “By creating this greenspace and creating this opportunity to relink Broadway, this project is going to help bring Midtown back together and be able to have it be a vital economic engine in our city.”
The city will accept comments on the Broadway Streetscape project for 30 days. They can be emailed to broadway@kingston-ny. gov or mailed to City Hall, 420 Broadway, Kingston, N.Y. 12401. The preliminary project designs are available online at www.kingston-ny.gov/KingstonOnTheMove.