Dear Members of the Greenburgh Town Board,
In response to long-standing concerns of Edgemont residents, further highlighted by a series of high-profile traffic accidents in the fall of 2022, the Edgemont Community Council (“ECC”) launched a comprehensive traffic and pedestrian safety initiative. This process lasted eleven months and involved 12 interactive, neighborhood-specific online workshops and 5 surveys with 632 total responses from residents.
The ECC recognized that three major roadways, Fort Hill Road, Old Army Road, and Ardsley Road, were community-wide focal points for safety concerns and conducted further surveys and separate forums for each corridor between March and June 2023. In the summer of 2023, community members from these forums formed three teams to analyze the survey results and offer initial recommendations regarding safety hazards and opportunities, resulting in three attached executive summaries and full reports.
The three most significant requests of Edgemont residents coming out of this process consist of the following:
* A timetable and schedule for the installation of sidewalks, pedestrian safety measures, and related appurtenances on Fort Hill Road, Old Army Road, and Ardsley Road, including an engineering traffic analysis to ensure a safe and viable roadway design. Priority should be the installation of an ADA-compliant sidewalk on Fort Hill Road starting at Underhill Road and continuing to Longview Drive.
* The implementation of traffic calming measures across Edgemont, with priority for the installation of a speed table on Old Army Road and an immediate increase in police presence and speed enforcement.
* The installation of a “smart” traffic light at the intersection of Ardsley Road and Fort Hill Road. This support is contingent upon the light being able to sense traffic beyond the line of sight so that the light can react in real-time to actual traffic conditions (not merely based on expected traffic patterns by time of day) to proactively prevent congestion building up all the way to Central Avenue and also significantly in the three other directions. The ECC urges the town to share a model for how the light will perform at various times of day prior to installation and to make sure that the light is easily reprogrammable based on information learned during the first week after installation.
Moving forward, the ECC has reconstituted our Traffic, Sidewalks, and Safety Committee which will continue to communicate with the Town and Greenburgh Police Department in the months ahead addressing the dozens of additional safety hazards that are more tactical in nature and not covered by the reports on these three major roadways. It will also work on creating a process to collect ongoing public feedback on hazards, opportunities, and preferred solutions, work on creating a process with the Greenburgh Police Department to communicate and track these hazards and opportunities, and work on creating a process to communicate progress back to the public.
Thank you for your partnership already on the section of Ardsley Road belonging to Westchester County, in response to our letter last month. By submitting this full report to you now before the 2024 Operating and Capital Budget processes begin, it is our hope that the Town will also be able to take immediate action on these requests under the Town’s purview.
The ECC and its Traffic, Sidewalks, and Safety Committee request a meeting with the Town Board at a work session later this month to discuss the implementation of measures to address these critical priority safety issues.
We look forward to continuing the discussion and working together to improve the quality of life for all Edgemont residents.
Sincerely,
Dylan F. Pyne, President of the Edgemont Community Council
Cc:
Greenburgh Commissioner of Community Development & Conservation Garrett Duquesne
Greenburgh Commissioner of Public Works Richard Fon
Greenburgh Police Chief Kobie Powell
Greenburgh Police Sergeant Benjamin Fontanilles, Commanding Officer of Traffic and Safety Unit
Greenburgh Town Attorney Joseph Danko
Greenville Fire District Chief Costanzo (Gus) Spedaliere
Greenville Fire District Board of Commissioners Chair Walter Groden
State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Assemblyperson Amy Paulin
Westchester County Executive George Latimer
Westchester County Legislator David Imamura