The Village Board of Trustees plans to meet with officials from Granville Central School after the district requested the village change traffic patterns on two streets to accommodate students who do not ride the bus to school.
Superintendent Mark Bessen wrote a letter to the village requesting that Rawson Avenue and South Maple Street be made one-way for a brief amount of time each morning and afternoon during arrival and dismissal.
Bessen wants the streets closed to traffic traveling south on Maple Street and west on Rawson Avenue to help alleviate congestion during those time frames. Because the district has changed from a two-tier to a single-tier bus system, there are more buses arriving and departing the school at one time and officials have encouraged parents of students who do not ride the bus to use Rawson Avenue and South Maple Street as a drop off area for those students.
Police Chief Ernie Bassett said he conducted an informal survey of residents on the streets and no one expressed any concerns with the idea, but members of the board said they had reservations about the request.
Frank Caruso expressed doubts the plan would work. He said most people are used to the streets being open to traffic both ways and even with extra signage it could be problematic to stop people from accessing South Maple Street off of Potter Avenue.
Making the change may also necessitate a police officer, at least initially, to help control the flow of traffic on the streets and the department already has an officer assigned to crosswalk duty on Quaker Street during arrival and dismissal.
Bassett said he had suggested to school officials last month that all students be dropped off at the elementary school and then police could continue to control traffic as high school students crossed Quaker Street. He said the plan would help ease some of the traffic on Potter Avenue in the morning and wouldn’t require an additional officer. That plan, however, failed to gain any traction with school officials.
Trustee Paul Labas suggested the school use the parking lot off of Church Street and have kids dropped off near the business office and then exit the main parking lot onto Potter Avenue.
“The traffic flow is minimal on Church Street in the morning and you wouldn’t have to make Rawson Avenue one-way,” he said.
Trustee Gordon Smith also wasn’t in favor of altering Rawson Avenue.
“I think the goal should be to have the point of drop off be on school property,” Smith said.
The board ultimately tabled any decision until next month and will meet with school officials to work on a solution that is equitable for everyone involved.
Mitigation Project
In other matters, the board authorized a $70,737 payment to Lamont Engineers for work associated with the “mitigation project” on the Mettowee River.
The payment is the first of five such installments, totaling $390,000, the village will have to pay, although 75 percent of the project is covered by a grant and the remaining 25 percent is being paid by the state.
The project will seek to repair erosion and remove sediment that was deposited in the river when Hurricane Irene blew through the area more than three years ago.
Jason Preisner, the project engineer, said work began more than two weeks ago and is “proceeding well.” He said if the weather continues to hold out, crews should have nearly 70 percent of the riprap, or or rock used to armor shorelines, in place soon. Crews are also planting vegetation in the riprap to help hold it in place.
Preisner said he was going to meet with engineers this week to explore the possibility of removing a large sandbar behind Edward’s Market. If the removal of the sandbar falls into the scope of the project, it would help alleviate erosion in the area.
Presiner said if the weather remains dry, the project could be done in October.
Church Street Bridge
Mayor Brian LaRose said the village will apply a 10-ton weight limit on the Church Street Bridge later this month.
Officials had originally set Aug. 25 as the date the weight limit would be imposed on the span, but that date has been delayed until the village receives the necessary signage. The village is still waiting on “No Trucks” signs.
Once the signs are received and erected, the limit will go into effect.