Consultant reviews Main Street traffic for vision plan
by JILL SCHMELZER Reporter

Steve Ferranti of SRF Associates discussed Main Street with members of the Village of Williamsville Community Plan Committee during the group's monthly meeting on Jan. 30.

The goal of the meeting was to develop preliminary concepts and ideas at the committee level, and to present them to the public at the next public workshop. The date is to be announced.

Ferranti presented "Context Sensitive Solutions" a philosophy in which "safe transportation solutions are designed in harmony with the community."

CSS is not a new concept. It is often used by the state Department of Transportation, Ferranti said.

"CSS is a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that involves all stakeholders to develop a transportation facility that fits its physical setting and preserves scenic, aesthetic, historic, and environmental resources while maintaining safety and mobility," the slide presentation stated.

The first step, Ferranti said, was for the committee to set its priorities and then later make adjustments.

The vision consisted of goals for the future of that stretch of state road that runs through the village. The slide presentation stated that the future village will enhance its character by building upon the defining characteristics of today - diverse neighborhoods, Main Street shopping district and the physical setting.

The goals of the future of the road would be to encourage nonautomobile travel, create an environment supportive of business and the community, create a signature street identity, create a safe environment for all users, and create an environment that supports economic development.

The objectives of the project would be to improve operational safety for all users, create community identity and support adjacent land use.

SRF Associates measures the success of the completed plan by answering these questions:

+ Are automobiles traveling at the posted speeds?

+ Is there greater pedestrian and bicycle usage?

+ Is there successful future development?

+ Are there extended hours of activity?

+ Is there business revitalization?

+ Is there an accident reduction for all users?

+ Is there a reduction in conflicts between users?

Ferranti said Main Street's preliminary issues include safety, excessive traffic volume, off-hour speeding, lack of parking, pedestrian crossings, a lack of shared parking, parking enforcement and a lack of bicycle lanes.

Currently, Main Street in the village sees approximately 36,000 vehicles per day in each direction, and an estimated 1,000 vehicles per hour between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. in both directions.

"That is a significant amount (of traffic)," Ferranti said, noting that there are currently five lanes of traffic - two in each direction with a center turning lane.

"We were hard pressed to find a comparable trafficked village," Ferranti said.

He compared Williamsville to the Village of Pittsford, which sees 20,000 vehicles per day. And it has three lanes with on-street parking.

If Main Street were to have three lanes such as Pittsford has, with 36,000 vehicles using it, there would most likely be gridlock at all times of the day, he said.

Ferranti said he would like to be able to devise a plan that would reduce the volume by approximately 40 percent. That means reducing traffic by 12,000 to 15,000 vehicles, maintaining a steady traffic flow at about 21,000 vehicles per day.

One committee member asked if decreasing the number of traffic lanes would push vehicles to other roads, such as Sheridan Drive.

Ferranti showed a slide of the percentage of traffic to number of lanes on Main Street.

He said at North Union Road during the morning hours, Main reaches about 88.1 percent of maximum capacity. If it were reduced to three lanes, there would be a volume of 124 percent - more than maximum capacity.

The committee also discussed vehicle travel lanes, medians, curb cuts, bike lanes, intersections, bulb outs and on-street parking. However, the ideas discussed are still in the preliminary stages, therefore they will not be reported on until they are more defined.

"You have to establish existing conditions to stay realistic," said Lawrence Bice, planning manager from Behan Planning Associates, the lead agency in creating the 20/20 Vision Plan.

e-mail: JSchmelzer@beenews.com