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CURRENT ISSUES
CORRIDOR STUDY
 
CORRIDOR STUDY  
for ROUTES US9 & NY 9H
Kinderhook NY
 
A DEFINITION
KINDERHOOK BACKGROUND
THE NEED
 

 

CORRIDOR STUDY –  A  DEFINITION

Rocco Ferraro, AICP
Executive Director
Capital District Regional Planning Commission
One Park Place, Albany, New York 12205

A corridor study is an evaluation of the existing transportation system and the adjacent land uses within a particular geographic area that is linear in nature.  The focus is on a major roadway, or intersecting roadways within an agreed to distance, but generally no greater than a mile wide.  In some instances, it may be a transit corridor. 

The scope of work varies, but usually involves the planning and design of transportation, design of land use, and strategies to address a range of identified issues and concerns associated with the flow of traffic and existing and future land uses such as increased capacity needs. 

Solutions evaluated include increasing capacity needs (expansion) to better managing the existing system through site design and access management to adjacent parcels.  Another objective of a corridor study may be to apply the findings as the basis to establish mitigation fees for future transportation improvements.

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With passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) by Congress in 1991, there has been a heightened awareness of the relationship between transportation systems and their impact on adjacent land uses and vice versa.  As such, money has become available to prepare these corridor studies in the anticipation that local governments become more sensitive to transportation issues when making land use decisions, and conversely, transportation officials are more sensitive to the impact on land use when evaluating transportation improvement alternatives.

In our region the Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC) has funded a number of these studies.  Though there has been a strong interest on the part of local communities to participate in such studies, implementation may be another matter.  You may want to check out CDTC's web site at www.cdtcmpo.org for examples of studies underway or completed in the region.  The Route 5 corridor study between Albany & Schenectady is one that is nearing completion with a focus of making it a more "CDTA transit-friendly" corridor.

 
BACKGROUND 

September 23, 2002  - KNGG membership meeting Marilyn Kaplan presented additional plans for the corridor study which she and Meg Moran brought up for discussion at the previous meeting. The Membership decided that this would be an important step for the Town to take and voted unanimously to make the corridor study a KNGG priority.  Joanne Gans, who trained as a landscape artist, offered to assist Marilyn Kaplan and they formed a committee to move the proposal forward. 

March 2003 At the Town Board Meeting, historical architect Marilyn Kaplan and landscape artist Joanne Gans, gave the Kinderhook Town Board a presentation and proposal for a Routes US9 and NY 9H Corridor Study for Kinderhook. The presentation and proposal were well received by the board with a promise to put it on the agenda for a future decision.

April 16, 2003 The Route 9/9H Corridor Study concept was approved by the Kinderhook Town Board. The resolution passed by a four to one vote, with Ken Wengler voting against it. At the April 16 meeting, Supervisor McGivney advised that a committee would be appointed to work on the study and report to the Town Board. McGivney mentioned names of possible appointees, two of which are large landholders along Routes 9/9H and one is a contractor.  Although the study was approved, no funding for it was approved.  So basically it was approved in concept only.

KNGG has taken the position that contractors and large landowners along the corridor should not serve on the Corridor Study Committee due to possible conflicts of interest. KNGG put this into a formal letter to Supervisor McGivney and suggested that the people in question could give valuable input but should have no vote.  KNGG suggested they could sit on the committee as advisors.

THE NEED

Excerpted from the speach given by Meg Moran to the Town Planning Board on the occasion of the Public Hearing for the proposed Widewaters project's site plan on March 4, 2004 .

In preparation of the Comprehensive Plan, "the one area that was not the subject of sufficient review was the significant increase in square footage allotment in the B-1 district. The impact of the square footage change is huge, not just in that the buildings themselves could be much larger, but, more significantly, because the types of businesses that would be attracted by such zoning bring with them significantly more traffic volume impact."

"At the time of its adoption, no traffic analysis had been done to evaluate or provide guidance to those negotiating and voting upon the Plan and the zoning amendments. The Plan called for future study of existing roadway conditions and capacity, and noted that significant traffic volume issues were facing the Town even then (Autumn 2000)."

"Supervisor McGivney and others have observed that professional guidance regarding traffic considerations would have been helpful at the time of the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan and the related zoning amendments related. At the time that the application for the Widewaters’ project was first filed, the ink was barely dry on the Comprehensive Plan zoning and none of the traffic planning called for by the Plan had gotten underway before this project was on the table."

"Almost two years ago, Supervisor McGivney wrote to DOT and asked for assistance. In his letters, he noted the recent development proposals or inquiries, including those regarding a Hannaford grocery store, a donut shop and a Stewarts, and he requested DOT’s assistance in a coordinated approach to the whole Kinderhook Route 9  corridor. This approach would have been in keeping with the stated goals and mission of the Comprehensive Plan and reflected a concern for the overall impact on traffic and safety that each of these proposals were reasonably anticipated to have and that, as Supervisor McGivney and others realized, needed to be addressed as a whole and not on a piecemeal, case-by-case basis. (The DOT did not reply.)"

Ms Moran's related speach gave a good case for the need of Corridor Study.

Margaret Moran serves on the KNGG Board of Directors.  She is an attorney and previously has served on the Town of Kinderhook Comprehensive Plan Committee and the Town Planning Board.  

December 21, 2004

NO NEED TO REINVENT

Ancram and now Copake and hundreds of communities around the country are waking up to the fact that if they do not take measures now to protect their community from unsightly over development – no one else will.  There is no need for Kinderhook to reinvent the wheel.  It’s already been done and there are many who’ve been through the experience who would be willing to give a helping hand.

Ancram has implemented a scenic overlay from its southern boarder to its northern boarder with Copake along Route 22.  Copake plans something similar to pick up at its southern boarder and run it north to Hillsdale. The idea is spreading.  Hopefully, Kinderhook will have its plan in place by this time next year.

There is only one major obstacle – The Kinderhook Town Board has not appropriated funds for the committee to hire a planning expert such as the ones used in East Greenbush, Ancram and Copake. When will the board wake up to importance of this issue?

KNGG . . . at work for you.
 

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