City of Albany Holds Public Meeting and Information Session for Input on Complete Streets Design Man

MJ, the City of Albany, and the Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC) held the first of two public meetings for people to provide input into a city-wide Complete Streets Policy and Design Manual being drafted to ensure that Albany’s streets are friendly to all who use them. Albany residents, business owners, property owners and other stakeholders were in attendance. "We hope to learn more tonight from you," said MJ's project manager, Jaclyn Hakes, AICP, to the pedestrians, bikers, and commuters at tonight's meeting on Central Avenue at the Linda. MJ held the meeting to find out what the public wanted before drafting up the design manual.

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Albany’s Complete Streets policy, adopted by Albany’s Common Council in June 2013, requires that Albany’s streets accommodate all users regardless of their age or abilities, including pedestrians, seniors, the disabled, cyclists, transit riders and motorists. Complete street design features include sidewalks, cycling infrastructure, signage, lighting, crosswalks, road diets, pedestrian signalization, bus pullouts, traffic calming measures, and more.

MJ is currently responsible for the development of the Complete Streets Policy and Design Manual for the City of Albany. The purpose of the Complete Streets Policy and Design Manual is to implement the City of Albany Common Council adopted Ordinance No. 2.11.13 for Complete Streets that requires that the needs of all users be considered in any future street construction, reconstruction, or resurfacing project. The project is related to CDTC's New Visions' commitment to linking transportation and land use planning to meet the Plan's goals for urban investment, concentrated development patterns, infrastructure that promotes health and smart growth, and planning and building for all modes of transportation including pedestrian, bicycle, public transit, cars and trucks. MJ utilized mobile mapping technology to document existing conditions for the complete streets manual.