Engineer seeks end to right-on-red ban at Uptown corner
KINGSTON, N.Y. » City lawmakers are being asked to consider doing away with the ban on drivers making a right on red from Albany Avenue to Clinton Avenue in Uptown Kingston.
City Engineer Ralph Swenson brought the proposal, along with other suggested traffic and pedestrian changes in the area, to the Common Council’s General Government/Public Safety Committee on Wednesday. He said the changes were being requested to make sure traffic does not get backed up on Albany Avenue when the state creates a roundabout that’s planned for the nearby intersection Albany Avenue, Broadway and Col. Chandler Drive.
The committee discussed the issue but took no action.
Swenson said the design for the roundabout is expected to be completed by the fall of 2018 and the project is to go out to bid in the spring of 2019. He said the concern is that during periods of heavy traffic on Albany Avenue, vehicles get backed up to the intersection of Broadway and Col. Chandler Drive (Interstate 587), while waiting to make a right turn onto Clinton Avenue.
If the vehicles get backed up, it will negate the positive impacts to traffic flow that are supposed to come from the new roundabout, Swenson said. He said removing the prohibition that prevents motorists from turning right on red from Albany Avenue on Clinton Avenue between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays would alleviate the problem.
A potential conflict is the driveway from the Gov. Clinton apartment building, which empties into the Albany-Clinton intersection, Swenson said.
“In the long-term, that needs to be relocated,” Swenson said of the driveway. He said that in the interim, to help with traffic, the city should install a stop sign at the driveway’s exit and a “stop bar,” which is a white painted line on the pavement indicating where vehicles should stop.
There already is a prohibition against motorists turning left out of the Gov. Clinton parking lot.
Swenson also proposed moving the bus stop at the corner of Albany and Clinton avenues farther down Albany Avenue toward the I-587 intersection.
“That bus stop should be moved back to where it won’t create a visibility issue,” he told the committee.
Swenson said there is already a protected crosswalk nearby on Albany Avenue where pedestrians can cross the street with the assistance of a traffic signal. Swenson said the distance people walk from the apartment building to the existing bus stop would be the same as to the proposed new stop.
Residents of the Gov. Clinton building, however, balked at the proposal to move the bus stop. They said there is only one ramp leading out of the main entrance of the building and it takes users toward the existing bus stop location.
The Gov. Clinton apartments are occupied primarily by senior citizens.
Questions arose Wednesday about whether the building is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and whether the city had contacted the building’s owner about the proposed changes.
Swenson said he had not spoken to the owners because his focus is on streets, not buildings.
Alderman Anthony Davis, D-Ward 6, suggested the committee get feedback from residents of the apartment building before taking action. He also said the city should find out whether the apartment building was required, in its original site plan, to provide a second access point to its parking lot.
The committee tabled the matter until the site plan issue could be reviewed.