Tag: sidewalks

Sidewalk Improvement Open Houses

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The Engineering Office of the Department of Public Works will hold three open houses for the draft 2020 Sidewalk Improvement District (SID) work plan.

The Spencer Road neighborhood is in sidewalk improvement district (SID) 4. Here are the meetings that include SID 4.

Monday, June 24, 2019
5:00 PM- 7:00 PM
Lehman Alternative Community School, Library
(SIDs 4 & 5)

Friday, June 28, 2019
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
City Hall, 2nd Floor Conference Room
(SIDs 1-5)

Map of the Sidewalk Improvement Districts (SIDs).

Based on these open house meetings, the Department will then develop a final proposed work plan and budget and these will be presented to the Board of Public Works. The budgets for each SID can then be translated into the Mayor’s proposed budget and Common Council will have the opportunity to review each SID work plan through their normal budget review process this fall. Projects that are not included in the 2020 work plan will be considered for 2021.

Questions about undertaking sidewalk work can be directed to the Engineering Office (607) 274-6534. The proposed 2020 Work Plan will be posted to the City’s website after the first meeting. Written comments will also be accepted through July 16, 2019 via email at jlicitra@cityofithaca.org.

April SNRA Meeting This Sunday

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Our next Spencer Road Neighborhood Association will be 10:00-11:30am, Sunday, April 28, 2019 at Tompkins Community Action (701 Spencer Road). (The Door is locked, ring doorbell for entry.)

Purpose of meeting:
We want to expand and organize our association for greater effectiveness, and to develop plans to address issues with the Spencer Road/Stone Quarry intersection and the 300 block of Spencer Road.

Agenda: 

SRNA Organization

  • Brainstorming a mission statement (10 min)
  • Are elections necessary? If so, what should the roles, responsibilities, and terms be? (10 min)
  • Request more communication from the city, regular updates on Common Council and BPW meetings, and any items that get sent to other neighborhood organizations. (5 min)

Stone Quarry Intersection Punch List

  • Fixing drainage, painting, signage (5 min)
  • School buses (Where do they/should they run pickup/dropoffs?) (10 min)
  • Mail delivery (Weekday delivery sees mail truck driving on sidewalk and pedestrians forced to walk on street) (20 min)

300 Block of Spencer Road

  • Poor quality of road (15 min)
  • Traffic calming (15 min)
  • Develop dedicated turn-around on 300 block (5 min)

Planning Future Events (5 min total)

  • Spring cleanup is May 4 at 10:00AM, meet on the 400 block
  • The next meeting in May, date TBD, at the Tompkins County Public Library, to evaluate that as a meeting place
  • Summer block party

Sidewalk Work – 400 Block

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There will be sidewalk, curbing, and road work done on Spencer Road starting sometime in the next month. We heard from that some neighbors that they were not notified.

Last month, a representative from the City left letters in people’s doors about the work. Here is a scanned copy of the letter.

Here are the relevant sections:

The City has awarded the contract to EZ Paving/Sealcoat, LLC out of Fulton, NY. A precise schedule for construction has not been defined yet. but I expect work to commence between middle of May or June. The project includes sidewalk construction,resetting or installing curb, a small retaining wall, drainage improvements, and asphalt milling and paving on the above-mentioned streets.

You will not receive any additional billing for the sidewalk construction or for any work performed on your property; however, we may need your permission to do any related work on your property where it meets the sidewalk in case it required modifications to driveways, walkways. stairs or other features on your property in order to provide a transition to the new sidewalk.

Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times via a diversion of the existing pathway around the construction works. Vehicular access to your property will also be maintained. There might be situations where access will be limited, but the contractor will coordinate this work and changes accordingly.

Anyone with concerns should contact Eduardo Torres, Assistant Civil Engineer for the City at: etorres@cityofithaca.org.

Upcoming SRNA Meetings

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The South Hill Civic Association and the Spencer Road Neighborhood Association will be having a joint meeting Saturday, February 4th at 9:30am. It will be held at the South Hill Elementary School at 520 Hudson St in Ithaca.  (Please go to the front door of the school and ring the bell to be let in – the door will be closed.)  At the meeting, we will be discussing the Chainworks District, and traffic/sidewalk issues (including the approved plan to dead-end Spencer Rd at the Spencer Rd/Stone Quarry Rd intersection).

The Spencer Road Neighborhood Association will be holding a meeting Sunday, March 19th at 10:00am at Panera (748 South Meadow St in Ithaca) to plan for our spring neighborhood clean-up (tentatively scheduled for May).

Board of Public Works Traffic/Sidewalk Discussion

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As a part of their meeting on Monday, the Board of Public Works will be including a discussion on the three traffic/sidewalk options proposed from the Spencer Road traffic/sidewalk study.

The traffic/sidewalk study directly affects the 400 block of Spencer Rd, South Meadow St Ext, the Spencer Rd/Stone Quarry Rd intersection, and the Spencer Rd/South Meadow intersection.

The meeting will be Monday, October 3rd starting at 4:45pm on the 3rd floor of City Hall (108 E Green St).

The meeting agenda could be viewed online here.

Spencer Road/South Meadow Sidewalk/Traffic Study Public Meeting

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The City of Ithaca Engineering Office has scheduled a third public meeting to review three alternative designs for the Spencer Road Sidewalk and Traffic Study project. The meeting will be held on Thursday, June 16, 2016 at 6pm at the Oasis Fellowship Church at 808 South Meadow Street Extension. City staff will be in attendance to present the three alternatives that were selected at a neighborhood meeting in January. The desired outcome of the meeting is to preview the drawings before they are presented to the Board of Public Works and to provide one way for residents to provide feedback. Residents are also encouraged to provide direct feedback to the Board of Public Works once the project is presented to the Board. The three alternatives include:

  1.  Constructing sidewalk on one or both sides of Spencer Road (between Stone Quarry Road and South Meadow Street Extension) and a sidewalk on South Meadow Street Extension.
  2. Making the block of Spencer Road between Stone Quarry Road and South Meadow Street Extension into a one way street (could be westbound or eastbound), or
  3. Making the block of Spencer Road between Stone Quarry Road and South Meadow Street Extension into a dead end street, and only allowing Stone Quarry Road traffic to go to or from the roundabout at South Albany Street.

The study area covers the portion of Spencer Road from Stone Quarry Road to South Meadow Street Extension, and the extent of South Meadow Street Extension from Spencer Road to Old Elmira Road. The proposed scope of work is to design and construct sidewalks in the project area and to study and recommend possible intersection improvements at the three intersections included in the study area.

For additional information about this meeting, please feel free to contact Tim Logue, Director of Engineering Services at (607) 274-6535 or tlogue@cityofithaca.org.

Public Outreach for 2017 Sidewalk Program

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Planned public outreach for the sidewalk program this year:

There will be a meeting for districts 4 and 5 (which includes the Spencer Road area) on Tuesday (6/7) at 5:30pm in the Borg Warner Conference Room at the Tompkins County Library.

There will also be an open house in Council Chambers at City Hall to discuss any of the sidewalk districts from 11am-1pm on Wednesday, June 15. The plan will be presented to the Disability Advisory Council and the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Council in the coming months. There will also be a separate meeting exclusively for accessibility concerns (date TBD).

These meetings are the first chance for people to provide input on our proposed 2017 work plan (being developed now), but not the only chance. The draft plan will go to the Board of Public Works for a public hearing on 8/8 and people are welcome to contact the Sidewalk Program Manager or Transportation Engineer with feedback.

Please note: John Licitra is the new sidewalk Program Manager. Eric Hathaway is now the Transportation Engineer for the City. John does not appear to have a listed email address, but Eric can be reached at: ehathaway@cityofithaca.org.

Upcoming Spencer Road Traffic/Sidewalk Meeting

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The City of Ithaca Engineering Office has scheduled a second public meeting to reengage with the public about the Spencer Road Sidewalk and Traffic Study project. The meeting will be held on Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 6pm at the Oasis Fellowship Church at 808 South Meadow Street Extension. City staff will be in attendance to present a series of sketches and ideas that were developed based on a kick off public meeting a little less than a year ago. The desired outcome of the meeting is to provide feedback to the City, which can be used as direction for the City’s consultant in preparing preliminary design alternatives that can be presented to the City’s Board of Public Works.

The study area covers the portion of Spencer Road from Stone Quarry Road to South Meadow Street Extension, and the extent of South Meadow Street Extension from Spencer Road to Old Elmira Road. The proposed scope of work is to design and construct sidewalks in the project area and to study and recommend possible intersection improvements at the three intersections included in the study area.

Sidewalk District Public Meeting, May 27th

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The Department of Public Works will hold separate meetings for each of the five sidewalk improvement districts (SIDs) to present and receive feedback on the draft 2016 sidewalk work plan.

Spencer Road falls into SID #4, which is shared with Elmira Road, southwest Ithaca, the south of the creek neighborhood, and South Hill (map).

Our meeting will be:
Wednesday, May 27th, 6:30-8:00pm
Tompkins Community Action, 701 Spencer Road (Conference Room) (map)

Based on public feedback, the Department will develop a final proposed work plan and budget to present to the Board of Public Works. Projects that are not included in the 2016 work plan may be considered for 2017.

Questions can be directed to Eric Hathaway, Sidewalk Program Manager, Engineering Division, at: (607) 274-6530 or: ehathaway@cityofithaca.org.

More information about the City of Ithaca Sidewalk Program can be found here:
http://www.cityofithaca.org/documentcenter/view/350

Sidewalk Road Work 400 Block of Spencer Road

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Update (May 6th): They have decided to allow left turns from Stone Quarry onto Spencer Road during this time.  The barriers around the sidewalk work will be moved daily. When the barriers are out, there will be flaggers. When the barriers are in, there will not be flaggers, as motorists ought to be able to use the intersection as usual.

Previously:

Here is the information received from INHS about the implementation of sidewalks along their property at 400-406 Spencer Road, and the subsequent changes to traffic patterns on the street during the sidewalk construction.  (Please note: this will affect the 400 Block of Spencer Road and the Spencer Road/Stone Quarry Road intersection).

Construction of the new sidewalk and curbing will begin May 4th. In order to complete this work a section of Spencer Road will need to be reduced to one lane during daytime working hours Monday May 4th through Friday May 15th from 7:30am to 4:00pm. When work is complete for the day two-way traffic will be restored. In addition, left turns from Stone Quarry Road onto Spencer Road will not be allowed at any time from May 4th through the 15th due to the construction barriers required to keep workers safe. Below is a diagram that shows where the work will occur. The yellow flags represent flagging stations where flaggers will be directing traffic. The thick red line represents a concrete barrier which will not be moved each day but will allow two lanes of traffic to pass. The red dotted line represents moveable barriers which will reduce traffic to one lane during work hours and then moved to allow two lanes of traffic when work is finished for the night. Temporary signage will be installed to inform drivers of these changes to traffic patterns. This work and disruption to traffic will be complete by May 15th. If there is a change to this timing INHS will notify. This plan has been reviewed with the City of Ithaca Traffic Engineer. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Joe Bowes at INHS at 607-277-4500×204.

Spencer Road Sidewalk Work Diagram Source: Memo from INHS: Temporary Changes to Traffic Patterns (pdf).  Contains larger-size diagram shown above.

Clarification: The 400 block of Spencer Road will NOT be a one way road during those hours.  It will be one lane with cars only able to go in one direction at a time.  Flaggers will be at each end of the block coordinating traffic.