Our Need: A Contemplative and Tangible 5-Year Sidewalk Plan
In 2018, John Rossi, serving as Village Trustee, composed and submitted a $4M grant application for a safe pedestrian passageway, inclusive of our schools, to the NYS Transportation Alternatives Program and Congestion Mitigration and Air Quality Improvement Program, TAP CMAQ for short. TAP CMAQ is very competitive and as a first time applicant our chances were slim, but even in failure we learn.
John contacted the DOT and was provided an honest and direct explanation of our shortcomings, which largely focused on our lack of an updated 5-year sidewalk plan (the Village’s previous plan was from 2011). The lack of a current and thoughtful long-term sidewalk plan needed to be addressed, and John took initiative.
In the summer of 2019, the Grant Committee 1, which John created, submitted a NYS Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) seeking ~$25K-$30K grant to pay for an updated Village sidewalk plan. Unfortunately, this grant application was rejected but John recommended to the Board we move forward using Village funds.
However, in October 2019 the Mayor and Deputy Mayor advanced a different approach and put forth a resolution to create the Village’s Streetscape Committee. Deputy Mayor Ric Lewit was appointed Committee Chair. (As of this writing there is no public record indicating the Streetscape Committee has conducted any meetings).
Notes:
- As Village Trustee, John Rossi created and stewarded the Village’s first, and only, Grant Committee… now disbanded
If elected …
If elected, John and Roger will review the efforts and framework of the streetscape committee, publish their progress and invite the public to comment.
If broad public interest is shown in a Walkable Village, John and Roger will move to update the now decade-old 2011 sidewalk plan. We will invite public participation in this conversation, and if a committee is warranted, it will be created in a transparent fashion and be given a clear mandate.
Did you know?
The single largest grant opportunity for sidewalks is the NYS Transportation Alternatives Program and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, TAP CMAQ for short. The grant is available every two years. The last filing window was in 2018, there were no known filings in 2020 due to the pandemic.
All 2018 grant awardees appear online and copied below are three examples of winning projects in the Hudson Valley.
· $4,302,243 to the Village of Nyack to construct new sidewalks and curbing; and install crosswalks and pedestrian flashing signage in the immediate vicinity of the Nyack Middle School
· $2,193,600 to the Town of New Paltz to construct new buffered bicycle lanes and pedestrian accessibility enhancements along the Henry W. Dubois Drive corridor
· $3,590,420 to the City of Kingston for new pedestrian accessibility enhancements at Flatbush and Foxhall Avenues