Community workshop looks toward sidewalk project

The Pine Plains Pedestrian, Trails and Bikeway Committee, in conjunction with the Sidewalk Committee, held a public forum and workshop at Town Hall to share ideas and get feedback regarding walking and biking in and around the town center on Wednesday, June 25.Also present were representatives from Dutchess County Department of Planning & Development, including Transportation Program Administrator Mark Debald.Debald is part of the Poughkeepsie-Dutchess County Transportation Council (PDCTC), which is the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the county.“We do a lot of local planning systems, so we work with a lot of local communities in Dutchess County,” Debald said, “and this is where we leverage federal planning dollars — not necessarily highway or bridge dollars, but planning dollars to assist communities, such as Pine Plains, to help out with their planning needs.”Debald said the MPO has completed two other sidewalk studies in the county, in Rhinebeck and in Hyde Park, and that Pine Plains is the subject of its third.The program administrator specified that PDCTC is not requesting any funds from the town of Pine Plains. “This study is completely wholly funded by the federal planning dollars,” he said.Debald shared data collected through the study, breaking down sidewalk conditions into three categories: excellent/good, fair and poor/unusable.Of the Pine Plains sidewalks observed in the study, 85 percent were found to be excellent/good; 13 percent were fair and 2 percent were poor/unusable.Debald also broke sidewalk material down into three categories: concrete, asphalt and other. His slideshow stated that concrete is the most durable, and that Pine Plains’ sidewalks are 98 percent that material.Various sidewalk issues observed in the study were classified as lifted, broken/cracked, obstruction, clearance and removed/missing.Of those, the majority came from lifted (42 percent) and broken/cracked (37 percent). There were 147 total issues identified, or one issue per 107 feet of sidewalk.Debald also shared results from an administered survey. As of the date of the workshop, the study comprised 73 returned surveys. Surveys for the study are being accepted through July 11 and can be accessed on the town’s website, www.pineplains-ny.gov, or the PDCTC’s web page via www.dutchessny.gov.From the results so far, more than 40 percent of residents said they walked every day; more than 20 percent said they walked just one to three days a week.More than 20 percent of residents said they rode a bicycle a few times a month, though about the same amount said they did rarely.More than 50 percent of residents said they walk on roads and road shoulders; fewer than 50 percent said they walked on sidewalks.At the presentation’s end, audience members were invited to examine maps of Pine Plains and designate priorities — using markers and stickers — for improved and future sidewalks and trails.Those involved in the project hope to present a full plan in the fall, according to Pedestrian, Trails and Bikeway Committee Chair Scott Chase, with another presentation date to be announced.