Rt. 52 to receive safety upgrades

By Connor Linskey
Posted 3/3/21

Customers to businesses on State Route 52 in the Hamlet of Pine Bush will soon feel safer.

Barton & Loguidice, D.P.C., an engineering, planning, environmental and landscape architecture firm …

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Rt. 52 to receive safety upgrades

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Customers to businesses on State Route 52 in the Hamlet of Pine Bush will soon feel safer.

Barton & Loguidice, D.P.C., an engineering, planning, environmental and landscape architecture firm is creating designs for a project that will provide safer, more efficient and accessible pedestrian connections between Boniface Drive and Depot Street along Route 52. The firm also plans to provide features such as curb ramps, crosswalks and pedestrian signals that are compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. Main objectives for the project also include connecting the existing sidewalk systems and reducing pedestrian and vehicle conflict points.

The idea for this project came from the Town of Crawford Comprehensive Plan Update dated Jan. 1, 2017, which called for improvements to pedestrian safety throughout the municipality. The firm presented a draft of the project at the Crawford Town Board meeting on Thursday, Feb. 25. They believe the improvements will allow pedestrians to safely access the many attractions on Route 52.

“There really are no pedestrian accommodations,” said Daniel Rourke, a senior project engineer at Barton & Loguidice, D.P.C. “Anyone walking there is walking on the shoulder, walking on the grass or cutting through the parking lot. We know that there’s all kinds of pedestrian generators here. There’s McDonald’s, Stewart’s, Beer World just opened up, there’s the shopping center and Dunkin’ Donuts.”

The intersection of Boniface Drive and Route 52 will see vast improvements. New curb will be placed around each corner and pedestrian ramps will be installed. Improved crosswalks will feature more room for pedestrians as they wait to cross the street. Pedestrian signals will have new buttons as well as crosswalk timers. The firm also plans to improve striping in this area.

Route 52/Main Street will receive many of the same upgrades as the intersection of Boniface Drive and Route 52, including curb installation, improved crosswalks and striping. The project calls for ADA-compliant sidewalks. Draining facilities will be improved from the parking lot of the strip mall on 2412 NY-52 out to the road.

The firm currently has two methods to improve access from the parking lot of the strip mall onto Route 52. One plan utilizes the strip mall’s two access driveways with reduced widths. The other plan calls for a consolidation of the driveways. The driveway in front of Valley Supreme Liquors would serve as the lone access point, reducing pedestrian and motor vehicle interaction, promoting more use of traffic signals and causing less vehicles to turn onto Route 52.

Part of the plan also calls for the construction of a pedestrian bridge over the stream next to the shopping center on 2412 NY-52.

The total cost of the project is $2,375,000. Eighty percent will be funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration with the remaining 20 percent coming from the Town of Crawford.

Barton & Loguidice, D.P.C., anticipates that they will begin crafting their final design and construction documents in May. The construction bid opening is slated for March 2022 with the building scheduled to start in April 2022. The tentative construction completion date is August 2022.

Daniel McCann, director of safety and security for the Town of Crawford, is excited for the project to be completed.

“It’s a safety project obviously because there are no areas to walk safely on there,” he said. “I think it’ll also encourage people to not take cars and walk to a store such as Dunkin’ Donuts… I think it’s a really good project and I think it’s something that’s been needed for quite some time now.”