38- Just the Facts

Fact: Creighton Manning Engineering (CME), in a letter to the Woodstock Planning Board, states: "The section of Route 212 between Route 375 and Playhouse Lane is an example of poor access management."

Fact: In this same letter, CME states: "The conflicts created by the Playhouse Plaza curb-cut is a matter for the Town, NYSDOT, and the plaza owner to discuss."

Fact: CME, in a report called "Access Management Guidelines, prepared for the Ulster County Planning Board, states:

"There are a number of typical standards that have been proposed for distances
from the edge of an intersection to the first driveway. One principle is that
there should be no driveway entering within an intersection's functional
area. The functional area is defined as the length of typical peak hour
queue or the length of intersection turning lanes. A sample standard is shown
below [not reproduced here]. These types of standards can be
adapted into the zoning statute in several ways including an overlay zone
covering critical corridors. Communities can and should restrict high traffic
volumes where they [the standards] cannot be met."

The bold type is in the original document. The italics are mine.

Fact: RUPCO's project will make the intersection of Playhouse Lane and Route 212 more crowded, not by increasing through traffic, but by increasing, by about 500%, the traffic moving into and out of Playhouse Lane, directly across from Playhouse Plaza.

Summary:
- CME gives our intersection a grade of POOR.
- CME tells the town of Woodstock, the state department of Transportation, and the Playhouse Plaza owner to work it out.
- CME tells Ulster County that where access management driveway standards cannot be met, traffic should be limited [not increased by 500%] by their communities.

We have a problem. RUPCO wants to increase danger at an intersection that leads to its project. When it was RUPCO's turn and responsibility to study the safety of the access TO the site, their traffic engineer, CME, never pointed to the poor access management. That is, during its initial study of the intersection, CME failed to point to this problem.

Now that I have uncovered this problem and shown a high frequency of accidents, CME admits to the problem they initially ignored, and wants the town, the state DOT and the Playhouse Plaza owner(s) to work out the problem.

Questions:
? Can RUPCO's project proceed without placing Woodstock motorists at greater risk?
? What needs to be done in order for this to happen?
? Will Playhouse Plaza owners give up their parking spaces for a housing development?
? How can we trust Creighton Manning Engineers after they ignored a glaring safety problem by manipulating study data?
? What will the town do?
? Is there a legal and equitable solution to this dilemma?

Answers: Stay tuned...