The first Complete Streets Public Workshop took place in Sloatsburg at the end of February and had a big turnout from people across the village.The NYSDOT Region 8 team were at the Fire Hall to greet Sloatsburgers with maps and other information as the evening discussion focused on local Route 17 issues.
The Municipal Parking Lot was filled to overflow for the recent Complete Streets Public Workshop for the Village of Sloatsburg, which took place on February 28. Some showed up out of curiosity about what the New York Transportation Department Region 8 had in store for the evening, while most looked to speak up about how to improve Route 17 through Sloatsburg.
At the next Complete Streets Public Workshop, the DOT will take Sloatsburgers issues and provide a workshop on solutions … specific ways to make Route 17 improvements that meet the needs of the village — the workshop is tentatively scheduled for sometime in April.
Fire Hall tables were supplied with large topographical maps of Route 17 through Sloatsburg for easy reference. The NYDOT workshop focused on building consensus for a list of village Route 17 issues.
DOT Region 8, which covers Westchester and Rockland counties, had a whole team on hand, led by Sloatsburg project leader Sandra Jobson, regional architecture and environmental landscape manager. Region 8 Director Todd Westhuis also attended the workshop – he said that the Sloatsburg project is important and a key Complete Streets program for his office.
NYSDOT Region 8 Environmental and Landscape Architect Sandra Jobson led the village Complete Streets workshop, surrounded by a strong DOT team.
The Complete Street workshop is the beginning of a process that should help residents identify and find solutions for their top issues with Route 17. At full tables scattered throughout the Sloatsburg Fire Hall, Sandra Jobson led the room during the first workshop through a series of exercises that recommended mostly safe passage across Route 17 (things such as crosswalks, reduced speed limit, bike lanes) and sidewalks and curbs for north Sloatsburg.
Sloatsburgers worked in groups at the Complete Streets meeting … each table was tasked with listing three main Route 17 issues — most tables focused on slowing traffic, providing safe passage across the road and making sidewalk improvements … or variations on those themes.
Jobson said that her Region 8 DOT team would take all the information Sloatsburg provided at the first workshop and map out an agenda for the next public workshop — which will move from Route 17 issues to zeroing in on improvement solutions. The next Complete Streets Public Workshop is tentatively scheduled for sometime in April.
