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Sunday, January 16, 2011

Complete Streets Feb 8 Workshop in New Paltz

(from the press release)

Highway Superintendent Michael Nielson announces a Complete Streets workshop to be held at the New Paltz Fire House on Plattekill Avenue. The Tuesday, February 8 event will run from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm event and is free to New Paltz residents. The cost is $40.00 for non-residents.

Lois Chaplin of the Cornell University Local Roads Program is the program presenter. Ms. Chaplin’s background includes 20 years of experience as a bicycle and pedestrian safety expert at Cornell, where she has instructed and designed materials for fellow educators, law enforcement, and most recently planners and engineers.
The streets of our cities and towns ought to be for everyone, whether young or old, motorist or bicyclist, walker, wheelchair user, or bus rider. Complete Streets is a national movement bringing attention to the need to plan and design streets accessible to everyone.

The workshop will build upon this public interest and provide background for a wide range of users in ways to make communities safer for everyone. The workshop will include planning strategies, basic design and maintenance principles used in bicycle and pedestrian-friendly communities. Additionally, participants will learn how to perform an assessment of their own community's walkability and bikeability. Other topics covered include traffic laws, essential items for the advocate's "toolkit," education strategies, multi-use facilities, and enforcement.
The workshop is suitable for citizen advocates, local officials and planning board or council members for villages, towns, cities, and counties who are interested in learning the basics of how to safely accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians in their community.

For more information, contact the New Paltz Highway Department, 845-255-5050. Workshop applications are available online at www.townofnewpaltz.org click on Departments, Highway Department. For more information about Complete Streets, visit their website at www.completestreets.org.

11 comments:

bd said...

I find it ludicrous & self-serving that our Road Boss is involved in this project.
With all the problems we have with our poorly maintained roads,, the ongoing problem of unaware bike riders & pedestrians, we , the motor - driven public should demand more education of the bike-riders & pedestrians to COMMON SENSE!!!
The idiot behavior witnessed by everyone I know regarding these non-motorised parts of our community are endless.

I was forced to back down Mohonk Ave in the latest strom due to a co-ed with her headphones on crossing the street & making me stop on the hill in the ice. Got stuck ! of course & had to dangerously turn around & go down. She never gave safety a thought,, just her "right to cross" came first.
This happens over & over again,
These bike riders & walkers are mostly brain-dead, in my experiences.
Mike should concentrate on our hideous roads & leave the social issues to those elected to do that stuff.
Plow the snow, pave the roads, fix the POTHOLES !
That is his mandate & job description. If he wants to pander to this vocal yet small voting bloc, he might pay for it in November.

kt tobin said...

Butch -
1) Nothing about Complete Streets assumes that any user should be irresponsible, all users - be they drivers, walkers, bikers, joggers, etc - need to be responsible. Complete Streets is about creating a safe environment for everyone.
2) I disagree that Mike should only focus on the bare bones issues that his dept faces. I applaud his efforts towards getting that department into sound shape - which was the focus and success of his first year in office. Now that he has a system in place, I encourage him to focus on more as you call "social" issues. We have lots of infrastructure and budget issues, but we should not let that limit our leaders' vision and accomplishments.

kt tobin said...

ps. please, please, please stop calling people idiots. not nice and not cool.

bd said...

I call it as I see it,, always did,, always will,, if the appellation fits,, so be it,,,

Not COOL ??? PUHLEEEESE,,,

bd

TPW said...

I gotta say, Butch, that your attitude reminds me of my stepson's when he was about 14 . . . he thought politeness was inherently dishonest. I am incredibly proud of the fact that he grew up.

bd said...

Hey you two invited me here,, i didnt just barge in,,,

you cant stand an honest man, so be it.
I have been kicked out of better joints then this, believe me,

but, since i'm still here,, maybe because I refused your desire to be a member of my GOP committee & maybe your still p.o.'d about that,,

could care less, but those smarmy comments you like to direct at me, show me i was correct.

see ya round campus, kids,

bd

TPW said...

Butch, I'm sorry I sat on your comment for so long. Kt decided it was my call to publish it since it was directed largely at me, and I missed the email notification.

I do appreciate your honesty, Butch. I don't think your approach - calling people names instead of discussing what you think is wrong with their ideas - accomplishes anything useful. The single greatest accomplishment the Republican Party under your leadership style has accomplished is nominating a slate of Democrats and an extremely unpopular Republican to run for town office two years ago. I think that says something.

To be fair, when I emailed back-and-forth with you about the workings of the committee, you were quite clear that local politics aren't your focus. In fact, it was my purely local interest that was your biggest complaint against me.

However, I continue to believe that a community with at least two parties that offer local candidates is a healthy community. I also continue to believe that your tendency to attack people instead of ideas will keep the Republican party from being anything but a laughingstock so long as you're involved.

Please continue to stick around, but remember that this is an intelligent community. If all you can offer is insults, people are going to look to others who offer ideas instead.

Sincerely,
A Registered Republican
(something you can never, ever take from me no matter how badly you wish you could)

bd said...

Terrence,
You never disapoint me.
Thanks for being exactly who I thought you were.
You have NOTHING I want to take away, you flatter yourself, I think.

Do NOT presume to instruct me about this community. You have little or no knowledge or understanding of who or what this community is made of.
I have lived here for over 40 years, long before you & your little group got out of short pants. I know & interact with the Founding Families of the real New Paltz, in my opinion.
You are entitled to yours.
Respect is obviously not a word in your lexicon.
As I said, I made the correct decision for the Republican Party & my own standards.

Like gum on the bottom of my shoe, annoying but not important enough to be disruptive.

bd

TPW said...

I don't flatter myself, Butch, because I don't claim to represent anyone but myself in my opinions. Your mileage may vary.

If you look back at my original emails to you, you'll see I never had any interest in joining the committee, though. My first message was, "Would you please include me on any future email announcements about New Paltz Republican meetings?"

Your reply was, "Why ?? You are not on the Republican Committee - Our committee meetings are for committeemen & women only. closed meetings, Sir."

Perhaps my reply, "I'm interested in learning about how the local Republicans work; my father was in the party for life and that was part of the reason I changed my own registration," somehow gave you the impression that I have some desire to wrest power from you. Let me assure you, I do not.

The following question is one to which you will never directly respond. Are you telling me that I need to be intimates with all of the oldest families in New Paltz to understand that having two candidates to choose from on Election Day is superior to having just one? That is the problem that I wish to solve, and to me it demonstrates of failure of leadership in the party that simply cross endorses candidates. 1+1 still equals 2, doesn't it?

bd said...

oh wow,, do ya just wanna fight with me ?

sorry, i'm too old & too mature for any more of this childish prattle.

You do not need to be friends with any one in order to do whatever it is you think you might be doing,
but you do not understand my New Paltz & i do not feel any need or desire to further educate you as to what my New Paltz is or who built it nor what it/we stand for. You just wouldn't get it anyway.
This should be about a mis-guided attempt by our Road Boss to spread his agenda, not your agenda.
You will never "approve" of my style of Chairing the GOP & I could care less. When i start listening to you, my days as Chair are over.

"Say Goodnight, Eddie"
Topo Gigio

TPW said...

Yep, didn't think you'd answer a direct question, I just couldn't predict the excuse you'd give.

I completely agree with you that I wouldn't get what "your New Paltz" is about, because I still think we live in the same town; sounds to me like you prefer to live in a community divided and you'll work your butt off to keep it that way.

Glad to know why we often don't see eye to eye.