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Tag: Tax Dollars Asleep

Why am I paying for this?

Traffic Signal Timing: Burnett Blvd at Rt 55, With Traffic

We ride through the intersection at the Rt 55 end of Burnett Blvd a lot, because it’s the only route between Raymond Avenue and the Dutchess Rail Trail. Previous posts have documented the signal timing, but this sequence shows the situation we’ve feared from the beginning… cross traffic not stopping because we are in the intersection with an opposing green light.

I’m towing a trailer with three bags of groceries.

The sequence numbers indicate the frame at 60 f/s.

T +0.000 = our signal just turned green:

Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 0096 – Green

T +1.250 s = the drivers ahead of us release their brakes and begin rolling:

Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 0171 – Green start

T +2.400 s = we begin rolling:

Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 0240 – Green rolling

It’s worth noting that we cannot start any earlier, unless you regard jumping the green and passing cars at an intersection as Good Practices, which we don’t.

T +7.217 s = the yellow signal goes on in our direction:

Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 0529 – Yellow

That’s six whole seconds from the time the cars started rolling and 4.8 s from the time we started.

Notice the white car to our right that’s stopped in the leftmost eastbound lane of Rt 55.

T +12.100 s = our signal turns red:

Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 0822 – Red

I’ve reached the middle of the intersection, Mary’s about centered on the three eastbound lanes of Rt 55.

T +13.333 s = the opposing signal turns green:

Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 0895 – Opp Green

Traffic in both directions of Rt 55 can now begin moving, but the white car remains stopped; it’s almost directly behind me in the leftmost lane. Because Mary is following the curved line guide lines, she’s just entering the rightmost lane. What you can’t see is a black car approaching from behind her that didn’t have to stop.

T +20.950 s = the car in the right lane that didn’t have to stop passes me:

Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 1353 – First car

I’m 140 feet from the stop line (figured with the distance calculator):

Burnett at Rt 55 – Intersection distance

At 40 mph = 60 ft/s, that car passed the stop line 2.3 s earlier, at T +18.7 s, when I was still crossing the right lane.

It’s entirely likely that the driver didn’t see either of us while approaching the intersection, because he (let’s assume a he for the sake of discussion) had a green light nearly 5 s = 300 ft before reaching the stop line. Unless he’s paying more attention than most drivers, he was intent on the signal to judge whether he must slow down; for the last 7.3 s he’s known that the intersection is clear, because nobody else should be in the intersection against his green signal.

T +24.667 s = The white car in the left lane passes Mary:

Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 1576 – Second car

All I’m asking NYSDOT to do is lengthen the signal timing so we’re not caught in the middle of the intersection by opposing traffic with a green signal. Adding a few seconds onto the yellow and minimum cycle time doesn’t seem unreasonable, but it’s been six months since I reported the problem with no action; I’ve pinged their Bicycle & Pedestrian coordinator several times with no response.

If their engineers are “studying” the situation, it’s not producing any visible results; they haven’t asked me for any additional data.

I Am Not A Lawyer, but I think my collection of photos should provide sufficient evidence to convince a jury that NYSDOT is totally liable for any bicycling injuries at that intersection, based on the inability of cyclists to meet the signal timing. I really don’t want to find out if I’m right…

2016-01-05
Traffic Signal Timing: Burnett Blvd. at Rt 55, Redux

Just in case you think reporting a problem to NYSDOT will actually produce any action:

Burnett at Rt 55 2015-11-08 – Yellow 5 s after green

Apparently, NYSDOT’s bicycle safety criteria allow greenlighting opposing vehicles onto bicyclists in the middle of intersections, so there’s no particular urgency to fix this non-problem.

They’ve been “studying” that situation, without contacting me for any further information, since July, so you can decide how much they’ve accomplished thus far. I know NYSDOT employees get offended when you call them liars to their face, but they have never, ever produced any evidence showing that I’m wrong.

Yeah, call me a cynic.

2015-11-28
Road Conditions: October 2015 Summary

It took a while, but the owners of Janet Drive did a commendable job of resurfacing the giant potholes that were consuming the parking lot entrance:

Janet Dr at 708 Dutchess Turnpike entrance – 2015-10-05

That patch covers all the holes, has a smooth surface, and neatly joins the adjacent pavement without huge bumps. It’s entirely possible to do good repairs, if you just hire the right contractor.

Which doesn’t happen if you’re NYSDOT, unfortunately, as they regards a few random hand-tamped blobs on a section of Rt 44 (and Bike Rt 44, for whatever that’s worth) as entirely adequate:

Rt 44 – 695 at Quest Diagnostics – 2015-10-05 – no progress

The sinkhole on Rt 376 that we must dodge maybe four times every week continues to grow:

Rt 376 2015-10-05 – Northbound milepost 1110 – sinkhole

Somebody who should know better suggested the NYSDOT crew just ran out of asphalt after patching all around the sinkhole that I’d reported back in July, but …

The NYSDOT Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator (yeah, she exists) assured me the engineers were studying the signal timing and would contact me directly:

Burnett at Rt 55 2015-08-31 – Yellow 8 s after green with cars

That hasn’t happened after four months, so I’d say NYSDOT uses the word “study” to mean “stonewall”.

There are more examples, but, to make a long gripe short, I’ve (once again) proven to my own satisfaction that there’s no point in reporting bicycle-related maintenance problems to NYSDOT: it only annoys them and they retaliate by making things worse.

We just keep riding…

2015-10-08
Traffic Signal Timing: Jackson Rd at New Hackensack Rd

Getting through this intersection requires setting a new bicycle land speed record:

Signal Timing 2015-09-18 – New Hackensack Rd at Jackson Dr – Yellow at 3 s

From a standing start, anyway: that yellow appeared 3 s after we got the green!

Seven seconds later (10 s after the green), I’m pretty close to the fog line on the far side of the intersection, but crossing traffic seen the green:

Signal Timing 2015-09-18 – New Hackensack Rd at Jackson Dr – Opposing Green at 10 s

That intersection seems to be controlled by the Dutchess County DPW, but it’s pretty obvious they don’t have any bicyclists on their staff…

2015-09-23
Road Conditions: BPAC Presentation

The PDF of my presentation to the Dutchess County Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee on what happens after a bicyclist reports a hazardous road condition:

BPAC Presentation – 2015-08-27

It doesn’t have my patter, but you’ve already seen most of the pictures and stories here, tagged Tax Dollars Asleep and can probably fill in the blanks.

To quote from the PDCTC Master Plan linked above:

The Plan establishes the following vision: In Dutchess County, walking and bicycling will be part of daily life, providing safe and convenient transportation and recreation.

Chekkitout:

Rt 376 SB 2015-08-25 – North of Maloney – 2

Spring Rd 2015-08-01 – EB – grate rear view

Mary says it was one of my more impassioned presentations…

2015-08-28
Invisible Asterisk: Motorized Sidewalk Traffic
From the NYS DMV:
You cannot register or operate any of the motorized devices from the list below on any street, highway, parking lot, sidewalk or other area in New York State that allows public motor vehicle traffic. You may be arrested if you do.

[List of things]

Golf Cart (also referred to as Golf Car or Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) – a small motorized device with four wheels designed to carry people. You can’t register a golf cart as an ATV. Many low speed vehicles are similar in appearance to a golf cart, and can be registered and driven on New York State highways. 1

[More things]

1. For a low speed vehicle to be registered in New York
- it must meet federal motor vehicle safety standard 500 (49 CFR 571.500)
- its maximum performance speed must be certified by the manufacturer
- it must appear on the list of approved limited use vehicles
With that in mind, here’s a fairly common sight along Raymond Avenue…

Raymond Avenue 2015-07-14 – Vassar Golf Cart – approach

Raymond Avenue 2015-07-14 – Vassar Golf Cart – front

Raymond Avenue 2015-07-14 – Vassar Golf Cart – crossing

Vassar College regards as Raymond as its private driveway, with its fleet of golf-cart-class and tiny-pickup vehicles traveling the web of sidewalks and pedestrian crossings on and off campus. In point of fact, Vassar does own all of the property on both sides of Raymond from Hooker to Collegeview, but Raymond itself unquestionably has “public motor vehicle traffic”.

Vassar’s Annual Sidewalk Sodding Week occurs shortly before their graduation / alumnae homecoming ceremonies. The sidewalks and paths obviously weren’t designed for shared vehicular & pedestrian use, so the cart tires gouge unsightly ruts along the pavement edges; the sod prevents those muddy strips from marring the festivities.

The concrete sidewalks along Raymond take a beating from the vehicles, too, but the overall concrete quality (or lack thereof) may have something to do with that.

This spiffy tiny-pickup golf cart used by the NYS OPRHP sports a Limited Use Auto plate:

Limited Use Auto 2015-08-21

It’s sucking a socket at the west end of the Walkway Over the Hudson.
2015-08-22
Road Conditions: Spring Rd, Repaved

Spring Road, the only route between Vassar Road and the Galleria / South Hills malls, had fallen into poor repair over the last few years, to the point where we rode to the end of Vassar Rd, crossed all seven lanes of Rt 9, low-geared up the southern access road to South Hills, then traversed the two-lane ring road. We had high hopes for the recently completed reconstruction project that closed Spring Rd for several weeks.

Although the paving is much better and the reconstruction removed a blind curve over a hill, the “rideable” shoulder now spans every single drain grate along both sides of the road. You encounter the first pair at speed in the turn from southbound Vassar Rd onto Spring Rd:

Spring Rd 2015-07-30 – Westbound at Vassar

Don’t cross either grate at full speed or you’ll flip over the high side into traffic.

A gallery of some of the other fine grates on offer along Spring Road:

Spring Rd 2015-07-30 – WB – grate 1

Spring Rd 2015-07-30 – WB – grate 2

Spring Rd 2015-07-30 – WB – grate 3

Spring Rd 2015-07-30 – EB – grate 1

They’re not nearly as smooth-and-level-at-grade as you might expect from the pictures; some are recessed two inches into the pavement. I rode over some that looked passable and they’re definitely not the sort of obstacle you want to cross without thinking. Forsooth: steel bars and bike tires do not a stable encounter have.

I’m also certain, based on past experience, that motorists won’t understand why we’re (still) riding in the lane, rather than using the new, most-wonderful shoulder.

Like, for example, when Mary elected to jounce over a grate and I rode the fog line along the abrupt slope down to the concrete box:

Spring Rd 2015-08-01 – EB – grate front view

The rear view shows why bicycle-friendly design matters:

Spring Rd 2015-08-01 – EB – grate rear view

FWIW, I generally ride slightly to Mary’s left, because I figure that way they’ll almost certainly miss her.

Oh, well. The new Spring Road is about as good as road design and paving gets around here…

2015-08-18