Roundabout construction won’t impede traffic flow, NY reps say
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> State Department of Transportation representatives are seeking to reassure residents, business owners and transportation administrators that construction of the planned roundabout connecting Albany Avenue, Broadway and Col. Chandler Drive will not impede the flow of traffic.
An open house on the plan Wednesday evening drew about 40 people, including Kingston school district officials. District buses go through the intersection during peak traffic periods.
Allen Olsen, the school district’s deputy superintendent for human resources and business, said bus routes might have to be adjusted if changes in road configurations affect bus schedules.
“We’re concerned that if we can’t get through there, we’ll have to reroute most of the buses,” he said. “We have a lot of buses that run through this intersection every day. We have runs for high school, middle school and elementary school ... and in the afternoon, we have those plus we have late runs. So we just want to understand it.”
A study leading to the engineering plan said average daily traffic volume amounts to 18,800 vehicles coming from the west on Albany Avenue; 7,800 from
the east on Albany Avenue; 16,300 from Broadway; and 15,300 from Col. Chandler Drive.
Under the plan, traffic is supposed to flow at its current pace during construction of the roundabout, but lanes will be shifted in phases as different sections of the project are in progress. Engineers have developed plans that will use the vacant space between the lanes coming in from four different directions to adjust the traffic flow without creating detours.
Transportation officials said the first significant changes are not expected until May, when Col. Chandler Drive lanes will be moved closer together and the turn from Albany Avenue eastbound onto Broadway will be shifted to where the current signals control traffic.
Over several stages from September 2020 through April 2021, all of the lanes will be shifted a few times as construction progresses. The final stage will have traffic using sections of the roundabout, and the entire configuration is to be complete by Nov. 21, 2021.
Ulster County Planning Director Dennis Doyle said the project is significant because it will create a gateway to the city of Kingston that doesn’t have the current traffic congestion. He said state officials have benefited by consulting with business owners about how the design can maximize customer access.
“There’s a lot of pluses here,” he said. “They (state representatives) reached out ... and let the community decide some of the key components of the project — from the initial design work to the refinement of the design to having this meeting tonight . ... It’s really refreshing.”
Department of Transportation spokeswoman Heather Pillsworth said it is important to let the community know representatives will be available throughout construction to address any problems encountered by residents or businesses.
The cost of the roundabout is being funded entirely with state and federal coffers. The city of Kingston, though, will pick up the tab for underground water and sewer pipe work at the site.
Besides changing the flow of vehicular traffic, the roundabout is to include 10-foot-wide, mixed-use paths for pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as raised crosswalks. Also, signs directing traffic to and through the roundabout will be ground-mounted, rather than overhead, as the current signs are.