Council OKs one-way street near schools
The decision affects most of the short Burhans Boulevard, alongside the city's Forsyth Park.
Most of Burhans Boulevard will become a one-way street as part of a project to make it safer for children to walk to school in the city.
The Common Council recently voted 7-1 to turn Burhans into a oneway street, southbound, from Alcazar Avenue. The small piece of Burhans between Lucas Avenue and the Fortsyth Park tennis courts entrance, however, will remain a two-way street.
Alderwoman Maryann Mills cast the lone vote against making the road to a one-way street, though she said she favored the overall Safe Routes to Schools project of which it is a part. Mills, D-Ward 7, said she was voting against the change due to concerns from a resident who told city lawmakers he had not heard about the proposal until mid-February. Mills said she felt there needed to be more discussion about the change.
Gary Otis, who lives on Alcazar Avenue, told the council prior to its vote that Burhans Boulevard is a narrow street and he was concerned about the safety of people using the sidewalk that will be installed, especially in inclement weather. He said he had not seen any safety study of the plan and he asked the council to reconsider the change.
Alderman Reynolds Scott-Childress said the Safe Routes to Schools project will not only change the flow of traffic on Burhans Boulevard but also change lighting and add sidewalks.
“This is going to be a great boon to many scores and scores of children and parents in the area, making it possible for children to walk to school, bike to school, and thereby get exercise and have fresh air at least twice a day in ways that they don’t now,” said Scott-Childress, D-Ward 3. He said Mayor Steve Noble met with residents of the area and discussed the proposal with them before the council took action.
The Safe Routes to Schools project will include the installation of new sidewalks on and near Burhans Boulevard, which is near Harry L. Edson Elementary School and J. Watson Bailey Middle School.
Pedestrian improvements also are to be made on Hurley Avenue and Joy’s Lane, near Edson and Bailey, as well as in the areas of George Washington and John F. Kennedy elementary schools.
The project also will include pedestrian signals at Washington Avenue’s intersections with Lucas Avenue, Main Street, Pearl Street and Linderman Avenue; a “traffic-calming hump” on Joy’s Lane, which is in the Edson-Bailey area; curb cuts at all four corners at Murray Street and Delaware Avenue, as well as on Gross Street, near Kennedy school; improvements to the pedestrian signal at the Murray-Delaware intersection; a crosswalk at the intersection of Quarry Street and Hurley Avenue, near Bailey; and crosswalk improvements at Wall and Franklin streets and at Fair and Henry streets, near the George Washington school.
The $650,000 contract for the entire Safe Routes project has been awarded to Sun-Up Enterprises Inc. of Wappingers Falls.