City gets $530K for pedestrian safety
Money from state will be used for improvements at some intersections
The city has received a state award of more than $530,000 to make pedestrian safety improvements at various intersections.
The money is from the state’s $62 million “Pedestrian Safety Action Plan,” a multiagency initiative to use engineering, education and enforcement campaigns to enhance pedestrian safety across upstate New York and on Long Island, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office.
“Pedestrian safety impacts residents of all ages and in all communities, and it is critical that we make our roads safer for everyone,” Cuomo said in a prepared statement. “By making significant investments in our roads, educating the public and cracking down on lawbreakers, New York is supporting eco-friendly transportation in our downtowns while enhancing pedestrian safety in all corners of the state.”
Megan Weiss-Rowe, Kingston’s director of communications and community engagement, said specific intersections for the work have not been identified yet.
“The funding is for various pedestrian improvements throughout the city,” Weiss-Rowe said in an email. “We are awaiting a formal grant award communication detailing which pedestrian improvements were awarded funding and at which intersections.”
The impending statefunded work comes amid another pedestrian safety project in Kingston called Safe Routes to School.
The Safe Routes effort so far has included work near Harry L. Edson Elementary, J. Watson Bailey Middle and John F. Kennedy Elementary schools, and the next phase will cover an area used by students who walk and bike to and from George Washington Elementary School.
The design work for the upcoming phase of Safe Routes probably won’t be done until next spring, and the work could be carried out in the summer of 2019, according to City Engineer Ralph Swenson.
The project will cover the entire length of Henry
Street, from Broadway to Wall Street, and is to include sidewalk reconstruction, bicycle infrastructure, high-visibility crosswalks, a covered bicycle parking area at George Washington Elementary and wheelchair-accessible curb cuts at intersections that lack them.
The elementary school is at the corner of Wall and
Henry streets.
The Safe Routes work near the Edson, Bailey and Kennedy schools included new sidewalks and crosswalks, new traffic lights and pedestrian signals, the creation of “speed-calming humps” on some roads, and the installation of electronic signs that show drivers how fast they’re going.