Scajaquada Expressway

[Buffaboy]

I don't know if this is within the guidelines, but I thought I would bring this petition concerning the 198 to your attention: https://www.change.org/p/assemblyman-sean-ryan-keep-the-scajacuada-expressway-just-that-an-expressway

[cl94]

With Buffalo's push to raise the speed limit, the NY 198 thing seems to have put people into 2 camps:

1. Those who drive the road daily, live on/near one of the surface streets getting the excess traffic, and people who hate Cuomo
2. Old people who want everyone to slow down and the rich folk in the neighborhood

Basically, the people who want the speed limit low are the ones who have been wanting the thing to be torn out since it was built. From what I can tell, at least on the streets, most people in the area think 30 is BS. Most people think tearing it out is BS. Problem is that the people wanting it gone are either rich or too old to have nothing better to do, both of whom vote and have much influence on the politicians. Overall, public opinion on the highway has not changed one bit- the people who want it gone point at the death, while those who want it to stay point out what we would call LOS F on the surface streets surrounding the expressway and the increased accident rate. My educated engineering opinion is to keep the thing in place and do nothing except improve the interchanges, but as we have seen in the past couple months, Cuomo doesn't give a s--- about what we engineers think.

[Buffaboy]

With Buffalo's push to raise the speed limit, the NY 198 thing seems to have put people into 2 camps:

1. Those who drive the road daily, live on/near one of the surface streets getting the excess traffic, and people who hate Cuomo
2. Old people who want everyone to slow down and the rich folk in the neighborhood

Basically, the people who want the speed limit low are the ones who have been wanting the thing to be torn out since it was built. From what I can tell, at least on the streets, most people in the area think 30 is BS. Most people think tearing it out is BS. Problem is that the people wanting it gone are either rich or too old to have nothing better to do, both of whom vote and have much influence on the politicians. Overall, public opinion on the highway has not changed one bit- the people who want it gone point at the death, while those who want it to stay point out what we would call LOS F on the surface streets surrounding the expressway and the increased accident rate. My educated engineering opinion is to keep the thing in place and do nothing except improve the interchanges, but as we have seen in the past couple months, Cuomo doesn't give a s--- about what we engineers think.

You know none of this would fly down south, whether it's a progressive or conservative city. They keep well-oiled highways.

[Buffaboy]

Disaster in the making... Why TF would they put crosswalks on an expressway?

http://youtu.be/_2dzzYixsqo

[iBallasticwolf2]

Disaster in the making... Why TF would they put crosswalks on an expressway?

http://youtu.be/_2dzzYixsqo

Notice how the news calls it "The 198" 

Anyway it seems like they are catering to the people who want this turned into a boulevard by putting Crosswalks. The good option would to have overpasses for pedestrains. It looks like they at least put in guardrail but a pedestrain crossing is a disaster waiting for more people to die.

[Zeffy]

Anyway it seems like they are catering to the people who want this turned into a boulevard by putting Crosswalks. The good option would to have overpasses for pedestrains. It looks like they at least put in guardrail but a pedestrain crossing is a disaster waiting for more people to die.

Not necessarily - my town for example semi-recently added a pedestrian crossing on Dukes Parkway West. This is the road that houses the Duke Farms Estate, so there's a bit of tourism across a semi-busy county road. They installed one of those flashing beacon signs (the ones that have a strobing yellow signal attached to a warning sign), as well as a standard traffic signal. If done right, you can easily prevent accidents with signals (the speed limit on this road is 40 MPH, and has a bit of a windy nature) without spending tons of money on an overpass.

FWIW, here is the area they added the signals, which is unfortunately too new for Google Streetview.

Of course, the problem here is that you're trying to put a crosswalk on a limited access roadway, which yes, is absurdity at it's finest. You're not supposed to cross a limited access roadway on foot, unless you are willing to risk your life.

[iBallasticwolf2]

Anyway it seems like they are catering to the people who want this turned into a boulevard by putting Crosswalks. The good option would to have overpasses for pedestrains. It looks like they at least put in guardrail but a pedestrain crossing is a disaster waiting for more people to die.

Of course, the problem here is that you're trying to put a crosswalk on a limited access roadway, which yes, is absurdity at it's finest. You're not supposed to cross a limited access roadway on foot, unless you are willing to risk your life.

My point indeed. It isn't bad putting a crosswalk on a surface road that isn't super busy but not on a super-busy limited access road.

[Buffaboy]

It would make more sense installing crosswalks like they do on DC parkways, making the Delaware Park portion just a parkway. But then it would lose the expressway designation.

[Mr. Matté]

Not necessarily - my town for example semi-recently added a pedestrian crossing on Dukes Parkway West. This is the road that houses the Duke Farms Estate, so there's a bit of tourism across a semi-busy county road. They installed one of those flashing beacon signs (the ones that have a strobing yellow signal attached to a warning sign), as well as a standard traffic signal.

Ironically, the one time I biked down Dukes Parkway a few months ago at that point, they had a private security guard manually stopping traffic for peds to cross despite the functioning signal right above her.

(and thanks to the Somerset County's "high friction road surfacing" further down CR 627 and the gravel-lined path adjacent to 206 there, the Dukes ped xing was only the third worst thing on that ride)

[Mergingtraffic]

Disaster in the making... Why TF would they put crosswalks on an expressway?

http://youtu.be/_2dzzYixsqo

I report still seemed a bit bias to me based on how the lead of the story was written, however, the 2 people interviewed did seem to think the crosswalks weren't needed.

(but even the media is being afraid of being politically incorrect, and are afraid of being labeled that way so they are going to lean towards taking out the expressway)

Of course the crosswalks are more to get people to slow down I think, there doesn't seem to be a rush of people wanting to cross.  It's dumb, lets put people in the middle of the expressway.  Yeah that's the ticket.

A barrier between the park and the expressway is all that is needed.

[vdeane]

I keep hearing the media refer to the 30 mph limit being on the entirety of NY 198, but a post earlier on this forum said it was only east of Grant St.  Which is it?  I'm hoping to get my NY 198 exit list on my site fixed.

Of course, it will just be wrong again when these crosswalks get put in, especially since finding the exact mile point they'll be located at will be difficult.  Seriously, they should be overpasses.  Someone needs to ask the people who support removing NY 198 if they would support tearing out a neighborhood elsewhere to built a replacement expressway.

[cl94]

I keep hearing the media refer to the 30 mph limit being on the entirety of NY 198, but a post earlier on this forum said it was only east of Grant St.  Which is it?  I'm hoping to get my NY 198 exit list on my site fixed.

Of course, it will just be wrong again when these crosswalks get put in, especially since finding the exact mile point they'll be located at will be difficult.  Seriously, they should be overpasses.  Someone needs to ask the people who support removing NY 198 if they would support tearing out a neighborhood elsewhere to built a replacement expressway.

It is currently 30 for the entire length. For the first few days, it was 50 west of Grant Street (which the media did not mention).

[Buffaboy]

I keep hearing the media refer to the 30 mph limit being on the entirety of NY 198, but a post earlier on this forum said it was only east of Grant St.  Which is it?  I'm hoping to get my NY 198 exit list on my site fixed.

Of course, it will just be wrong again when these crosswalks get put in, especially since finding the exact mile point they'll be located at will be difficult.  Seriously, they should be overpasses.  Someone needs to ask the people who support removing NY 198 if they would support tearing out a neighborhood elsewhere to built a replacement expressway.

It is currently 30 for the entire length. For the first few days, it was 50 west of Grant Street (which the media did not mention).

Yeah I just drove on the portion from the 190 to Elmwood. It's comically slow, and I basically just went at the speed limit to piss people off around me. People from out of state likely are scratching their heads as to why an expressway like this is 30 the entire way.

[Roadgeek Adam]

I keep hearing the media refer to the 30 mph limit being on the entirety of NY 198, but a post earlier on this forum said it was only east of Grant St.  Which is it?  I'm hoping to get my NY 198 exit list on my site fixed.

Of course, it will just be wrong again when these crosswalks get put in, especially since finding the exact mile point they'll be located at will be difficult.  Seriously, they should be overpasses.  Someone needs to ask the people who support removing NY 198 if they would support tearing out a neighborhood elsewhere to built a replacement expressway.

It is currently 30 for the entire length. For the first few days, it was 50 west of Grant Street (which the media did not mention).

Yeah I just drove on the portion from the 190 to Elmwood. It's comically slow, and I basically just went at the speed limit to piss people off around me. People from out of state likely are scratching their heads as to why an expressway like this is 30 the entire way.

I tried driving 30 mph from 190 to Grant, I couldn't seem to get myself to 30 without risking my life, so I had to speed just a little to keep an even flow and not risking an accident.

[Buffaboy]

I'll throw this out there... Could the Scajacuada ever be upgraded to Interstate standards?

[Rothman]

Anything could with political will behind it.  That will never happen with the Scajaquada, however.

[Buffaboy]

Let the slow death begin, they will be narrowing the lanes sometime this week in preparation for the crosswalks, which, well how would that be done anyway?

[Buffaboy]

Puff piece:

Traffic calming work is underway along the Scajaquada Corridor. The work entails road re-striping and narrowing efforts.

“Today marks an important step forward in the ongoing transformation of the Scajaquada Expressway. Re-striping and narrowing the lanes is the first in a series of interim traffic calming measures to be implemented, and I am pleased to see that the work is now underway. Adjusting drivers to the new 30 mph speed limit is an important step in the process to transform the Scajaquada. The work being done now, and the other interim traffic calming measures which will be installed in the coming weeks, will help to accomplish this goal. We need to continue to move quickly to engage the public to discuss long term plans for the Scajaquada.”

While these traffic calming efforts are important, there are some road diet advocates who are reminding the public that the Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) needs to stick closer to its original 2004 plans that were released, and at the time were well received by the community. In a recent e-blast sent out by GROW WNY, the question was raised by a number of traffic calming advocates that while re-striping and lane narrowing efforts are appreciated, it’s important to remain steadfast in united efforts that would see the 2004 plan trump the now outdated 2013 plan.

At this point, right-sizing advocates would like to see the NYSDOT move forward with the 2004 long-term vision that was extensively studied over a decade ago. Your opinion matters. Some of the best projects in Buffalo got started because of public outcry and citizen involvement. Now is the perfect time for everyone to get involved.

http://buffalorising.com/2015/08/scajaquada-traffic-calming-efforts-raise-more-questions/

Now is a great time to drive this highway in its current form because before we know it, it will go the way of the Inner Loop. All because a toddler was killed by a guy with narcolepsy.

[Rothman]

Puff piece:

it's important to remain steadfast in united efforts that would see the 2004 plan trump the now outdated 2013 plan.

So 2013 is outdated and 2004 isn't? 

[Buffaboy]

Puff piece:

it's important to remain steadfast in united efforts that would see the 2004 plan trump the now outdated 2013 plan.

So 2013 is outdated and 2004 isn't? 

See how twisted this is? They (< 5,000 locals) want to manipulate the planning process to get what they want.

[vdeane]

They didn't attribute the quote to anyone, but I'm willing to bet that it's from Mr. Sean Ryan.  That guy needs to butt out of NYSDOT's affairs and leave the Scajaquada to Region 5 and the MPO.

[cl94]

They didn't attribute the quote to anyone, but I'm willing to bet that it's from Mr. Sean Ryan.  That guy needs to butt out of NYSDOT's affairs and leave the Scajaquada to Region 5 and the MPO.

No comment. Read my signature to take a guess at my opinion.

[Buffaboy]

The restriping they did looks like shit

[Buffaboy]

Another puff piece: http://buffalorising.com/2015/09/what-if-buffalo-was-a-35-minute-city-would-that-be-so-bad/

A few months ago, after the tragic death of a child in Delaware Park and subsequent controversy over the status of the Scajaquada Expressway, Diana Augspurger,  a resident of Kenmore, started an on-line petition demanding that the Scajaquada, remain as an expressway. Here is the language in her petition statement:

How can an expressway become a city street overnight? Where is the discussion? If you want to reduce the speed to parkway speed at 45 mph, add trees and dress it up, that's one thing. This heavily traveled road connecting 2 major city arterials was never meant to be a bicycle path, have traffic lights and roundabouts. It was built to facilitate traffic navigating around the City of Buffalo. We have miles of parkways just down the road and acres of park right at the expressway's edge. What we won't have if this change is enforced, is an efficient path to downtown, north towns and south towns. Why is this convenience being taken away from those of us who use it daily and in some instances, multiple times a day? This change is being sold on the heels of a major tragedy. To leverage that tragedy in order to press an agenda does not seem in keeping with what is in the best interests of the public. Looking at this recent photo, what about that looks safe?

[/i]

It is an interesting demand on her part, as a Kenmore resident–that the people of Buffalo give up their quality of life, safety, and the usability of their park–for her convenience. Why should HER convenience be taken away, she asks. She points out that there are "miles of parkways just down the road"  that people can use, but fails to point out that most of those miles of parkway were also converted to a stinking high-speed highway for her convenience. It is a kind of car culture arrogance we have developed in this country, which demands swift passage in our cars at the expense of everything else.

[Buffaboy]

Take a look at this presentation, the LOS is a disaster: https://www.dot.ny.gov/portal/page/portal/content/delivery/region5/projects/547022-home/547022-repository/15-09-16%20547022%20Final%20Public%20Meeting%20Presentation%20R91615.pdf