Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutArterial Management - Recommended Best Management Practices for East End Sub-Region of Region 10 LI NY by NYSDOT RECOMMENDED BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN ARTERIAL MANAGEMENT for the East End sub-region of Region 10, Long Island, New York The arterial management categories listed here were taken from various publications of the NYSDOTs Corridor Management Group. They are not listed in any specific order of priority. All recommended management practices set forth in this document reflect the intent of the East End Townships and Villages to protect the unique scenic character of the region. Our economic stability and high quality of life depend on maintaining a delicate balance between a visually stunning, but fragile, natural environment and the necessary evils, as it were, of human development. The landscapes that define the East End are greatly affected by the character of its roads. For better or for worse, most people experience the landscape from roadways. As urban and suburban development forms have come to homogenize the national landscape, the image of, and the view from, bucolic country roads have come to have deep symbolic meaning and a treasured place in the American psyche. Given the importance of its roads to the East End landscape, the suggested Management Practices noted below reflect our best thinking on how to design, landscape, and maintain the State road network. We hope that the State will agree to adopt these practices in lieu of current standards. 1 Recommended Best Management Practices In Arter1aIManagement for the East End sub-region of Region 10. Long Island. New Vort: NEW ROADSlBYPASSES 1 The creation of New Roads or Bypasses to ease traffic congestion within the East End is inappropriate given the character of the region. ROAD WIDENINGS 1 Road widenings to increase the travel lane width or to add an additional travel lane are not supported except where an identified safety concern exists and in coordination with the local government. 2 Lane widenings on roads with established bicycle routes should be designed to improve the margin of safety for drivers and riders but in an aesthetically pleasing fashion. 3 Widenings of either travel lanes or roadways should not result in an increase in posted speed limits nor encourage travel in excess of previously posted limits. TRAFFIC CALMING 1 Permit traffic calming devices to be installed in business districts in order to slow travel speeds, improve safety and facilitate the pedestrian environment. 2 Install calming devices elsewhere where local government deems appropriate. 3 Permit the installation and reinstitution of landscaped traffic circles where appropriate. 4 On stretches of road in agricultural areas, the presence of slow-moving farm vehicles should be considered in speed postings, traffic management and calming measures. 5 Traffic calming measures should not encourage rerouting of traffic onto 'bypass' routes or other local roads. MEDIANS/STRIPING 1 The use of raised, planted medians to manage and calm traffic should be encouraged (as opposed to the use of concrete platforms or wide painted stripes over large expanses of roadway). PEDESTRIAN ACCESS 1 Where medians are used at intersections, provision should be made for pedestrian travel and security. 2 At high volume intersections, provisions should be made for pedestrian safety and convenience. 3 In hamlet business centers, permit use of strategically placed, designated pedestrian crosswalks where pedestrians have right of access over automobiles. 4 Where pedestrian access (or the potential) is low or non-existent, either eliminate requirement for new sidewalks or limit placement of new sidewalks to one side of the right-of-way. 2 I/eCOmmended Best Management PmctIces In Arterial Management for the East End sub-region of Region 10. Long Island. New Yor1c SIGNAGE 1 The placement of all directional signs (pathfinders), route markers and speed limit signs within the right-of-way should be reviewed and updated. Redundant directional and route signage should be removed. Speed signs should not be "lost" in the clutter of other signs or in untrimmed vegetation. 2 Clustering of guide signs in a discrete and readable format is preferred to posting them in an unordered, straggled row. 3 Sign aesthetics should be taken into account, particularly given the scenic values inherent along much of the state road system. 4 The design, proliferation and placement of trail signs should be revisited. 5 To improve visibility and reduce clutter, the substitution of symbols for standard text should be given serious consideration. SIGNALS 1 The introduction of new signals, particularly to serve a new development instead of an established street intersection, is generally unacceptable. 2 Signal placement should be coordinated with local government's plans. 3 Traffic signal design and placement should reflect the area's character. LIGHTING 1 Street lighting should be color true, energy efficient, and shielded so that just the roadway is illuminated. 2 Placement of lights should be limited to intersections and high hazard areas where lighting is crucial to safety. Eliminate practice of random placement of street lights on existing utility poles. 3 In business districts, particularly those with heavy pedestrian traffic, low decorative lamp poles and complementary lighting should be used to augment or replace standard utility pole lighting. 4 The use of floodlights on the rear of utility poles to illuminate businesses should be discontinued. PARKING MANAGEMENT 1 Prohibit the expansion of pre-existing commercial parking areas where vehicles back out into the roadway in order to exit the site. 2 Work with local governments to phase-out such pre-existing parking areas. PUBLIC TRANSIT 1 Provide directional, pathfinder signs to public transportation hubs including railroad stations, bus stops and ferry terminals. 2 Coordinate with bus transit agencies and operators to provide more conducive signalization and turning lanes where needed. 3 Coordinate with other governmental agencies to improve access to public transit. 4 Work with local governments to design and locate safe bus turn outs on the roadways. 3 Recommended Best Management Practices In Arter1a1 Management for the East End sub-region of Region 10. Long Island, New York BICYCLE LANES/ROUTES 1 Dedicated bicycle routes and lanes should be introduced only where appropriate. Adequate pavement widths to enable motor vehicles and bicyclists to safely 'share the road' should be provided. 2 Safety of bicyclists on bicycle routes needs to be improved, (e.g. "share the road" signs). 3 Better signage is needed to discourage passing in the shoulder lane. FREIGHT ROUTING 1 Return to previous policy of limiting heavy trucks from using certain sections of State roadways as through routes (except to permit deliveries only.) Work with local government to dEilsignate these routes. 2 Impose weight limits to reduce noise and vibrations on residential stretches of roadway. TURNING LANES/MERGE LANES 1 Turning lanes should be installed only where an identified safety concern exists and in coordination with the local government. CURB CUTS 1 Require private, off-street parking areas within business districts to share curb-cuts onto state roadways. 2 Restrict new business sites from installing more than one curb-cut except where the use, e.g. gas service. stations, requires two cuts. 3 Curb cut locations should be coordinated with local government as well as with individual applicants. Consideration should be given to providing sufficient distance between curb cuts as well as to cross traffic alignments based on individual circumstances. 4 Where driveway traffic volumes are significant and traffic safety is an issue, permit driveway aprons to be replaced with street-type accessways flush with the adjacent roadway. LANDSCAPING/SCREENlNG/RIGHT OF WA Y 1 Regraded and reconstructed stretches of road (e.g. medians, border areas) should be revegetated instead of blacktopped. 2 Policy of not replacing dead or dying street trees must be reversed as large trees along the streets are part of the East End character, and can function as traffic calming devices. 3 The permit system for placement of street trees within state right of ways must be revised to facilitate the ability of private property owners and Town Tree Committees to plant new trees. 4 Alternative strategies are needed to protect tree roots in close proximity to streets and sidewalks and to improve pruning practices near overhead utility lines. 5 Replace grass medians and landscaped areas with native, xeric wildflower species to reduce need to mow and to improve aesthetics. 6 Improve coordination with local agencies and public utilities regarding street tree maintenance and pruning tactics. 7 Replacement tree species used to revegetate after reconstruction projects should be chosen in cooperation with local government. 4 Recommended Best Management Practices In Arterial Management for the East End sub-region of Region 10. Long Island. New Ycllc: STORMWATER MANAGEMENT 1 Standard recharge basin design should be discarded in favor of using existing natural drainage swales, reed beds, leaching basins and other methods that mimic the natural environment and are aesthetically more pleasing. 2 Improve screening of existing recharge basins. 3 Remove direct discharge pipes from fresh or salt wetlands, from marshes and creek or bay waters. 4 Improve coordination with County Department of Public Works and Towns on design, construction and management of stormwater retention facilities. 5 Incorporate recommended stormwater management techniques from the Peconic Estuary Program with localized ground and surface water hydrology to improve stormwater retention design. FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICA TION SYSTEM 1 Revisit and, where necessary, reclassify local roadways on the Federal/State Aid System in cooperation with local government. 5 , ARTERIAL MANAGEMENT of STATE HIGHWAYS: Issues of Concern to East End Townships and Recomended Best Management Practices Report of the East End Transportation Council of the East End Supervisors and Mayors Association October 1997 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this report is to recommend regional Best Management Practices for Arterial Management of State highways within the East End townships of Region 10, New York. Our goal in preparing this report is to protect the uniqueness of the East End landscape. This is a region of superlative vistas: it offers a palette of fragile wetlands, creeks and bays fringed with marshes, wooded terrain, and working farms; the latter a fast disappearing entity on Long Island. The State Department of Transportation manages 123 miles of highway within the East End: just 10 percent of the total road network. However, these roads form the backbone of the road network within the region. Not only do they function as the main arterials, they serve as gateways into a resort area of national and international renown. While traffic safety and efficiency are the primary concerns of state highway design and management, the underlying premise of this report is that aesthetic concerns should be given serious consideration as well. The standard highway design and management procedures existent within Region 10 contrast sharply with the character of roads within the East End. The aim of this report is to set forth a regional vision for State highway design and management: one that will provide a clear guide for discussion and for modifying existing standards into a new blueprint for NYSDOT activity within the East End region: one that enhances the East End's unique scenic character.