Long Awaited Review May Include Smart Lights in Brunswick
by Doug La Rocque
For many years, and in particular during public hearings about three new major developments now under construction along Hoosick Road (NYS Route 7), members of the public have been very vocal in their complaints about traffic along that road including the many stop and goes, volume, lengthy backups and the almost daily accidents. When the addition of another signal light at the intersection with Lord Avenue was proposed, several started calling for a NYS Department of Transportation (DOT) traffic study. Research at that time indicated the last DOT study was about 20 years ago, and so much has changed since then.
Earlier this year, Brunswick Town Supervisor Phil Herrington announced the Town had procured the services of Wayne Bonesteel, an engineer who already deals with the Town’s Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals, was retained to pen a grant application to the Capital District Transportation Committee for a new study of the highway. Mr. Herrington tells The Eastwick Press funding for that study has been verbally approved, and he is just waiting for the actual paperwork.
Computerized Traffic Lights
DOT is to use the money to hire a traffic engineer to complete the study, which would include traffic volume and patterns, but would also look into the installation of smart lights. These are traffic signals that have the ability to read both volume and backups, and actually “talk to one another” to try to change their timing to eliminate such problems.
Adding a Lane
There is a section of Hoosick Road eastbound in front of the Taco Bell restaurant where the road shrinks from two lanes to one, then back to two. Supervisor Herrington thinks widening the road to two lanes throughout that section would go a long way toward eliminating the backups that often occur. When the Taco Bell was in the approval process in front of the Planning Board, the landowners agreed to cede a small portion of their land to DOT, so such a second lane could be constructed. Mr. Herrington is hopeful this will be made part of any recommendation the traffic study puts forth. When this study may begin is unclear.
