HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter- Molly Shoemaker, To TCAT board of directors.PDF2lL6lr0 6"12 ?Mmhtmlrnain:
To the TCAT Board of Directors
Att Frank Proto
Mv nanne is Mollv Shoemaker
I live at:.104 Nofihway Rd and I have worked at Cayuga Heights School for 30 years.
I find in a recent letter from Jim Gilmore, Mayor of Cayuga Heights, lo Patric(Jensen,.principal
"f C"V*g" Ueights and others,_lhat " this chgnlg < moving bus Rbute J0 frop E Upland to
N;rkfi;t n0.,3 catches myself and most of uI by suqprise, as I thought the issue had been
resolved in 2008."
It cauglnt me by surprise, too, and the othel residents on Northway and stretches of the Palk-way
n.ui iiiyugu fi.igtrt's Elementary School. n feel thatthe safejy issue is overwhelming, and that
technicdl a?vantiges should nofoverride th,e safety.issues. AltLrg very_ least, Tgving a bus route
closer to a school crossrng tncreases the rigk of aci;idonts to children. I think this is a moral issue
unO I think it is also a liab"ility issue for TCAT and the Village of Cayuga Heights, now that the
safety issues have been brought to their attpntion.
At a Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees Meeting September l7 ,2007 there was the
bnrv puuri? oiscusiioi of thE proposed change that I am aware-of. Nancy oltz was at that
-"6ting and became aware that many residents were dissatisfied with the change' She was
presentled at about that time with a petition containing over 150 names.of pe.ople .gPPosed to the
;i,;;'g;;}b;; R;;" iO fto* B U,pJbn{ to Northway"Rd. At that meeting-a "stay':wat t_".qu:ll.^d
pending, *. urru-.d, ruitner puuiic disculsions TC{J did hold publiCmeetings in early 2009
but to riy knowledge, the profosed changp was not iredicated in writing or on maps'
I have in an e-mail from Brent Cross, the fillage Engineer, January.18, 2010, "I did not attend
ittor. oo""tings <public hearings> ro t *_1{ not Iure tfley were planiring to start ugilts Northway
Rd, brt I sus[ect6J hir to U. tlie case_." Hg further states that 'i can tell yol tlat J havealways.
;;;b6t"d ifie technical benefits of the bus using Northway instead 9J,E Ugt,ry J understand
irr.i"-ir prUiiC "oni"in ou.. the safety asppct of The buses dround children. Again, I will leave that
issue tobthers to comment."
I remain firmly opposed to the rerouting o[ Route 30 to_NorlhwlV.Road from E Upland Road.
This reroutes ihebus past the back entrlnge to Cayu$a Heights School.
The back entrance to school is the main edtrance for cars, teachers, parents, children on foot,
b-yclgs, scooters, in. Uur.t for handicap lttlOt"n, delivery trucks and garbage pickup trucks.
The back entrance ir ur.O y"ut ro,rnd foi {r..tt ,to the school.day care proglal^n' summer school
;;a *11*;i duy "ur"
progia-r, the athletlc fi_elds for aftel school sporfs and for school wide
events. It was esd;;6 in-iOol'Ai tn" CF{ police that the back entrince to the school handled 200
cars between 7:30 and 8:00 am, when schpol starts.
A larEe T-Cat bus adds unnecessarily to the congestion, increasing the risk of accidents,
"ro""i"ffo toinliAr"n who are notoriously un pre"dictable. While buses may run past other
iihoots. ihut *uy not be a good idea for ihe sdme safety reasons. In some cases the bus routes
;t;*. frigtr*uy" and not"residential s_trelts. In.some 6ases,-there may be no 4t:,tl-1llles. In any
iase TCAT"bur ii"fi" increases the risk df accidents to children. In the case of Northway Rd.
there is an alternative route, It's E. Uplarid Road.
As a resident of Northway Rd, I have phone logs and e-mails to Brent Cross_.lhe Village
Engineer, dating'baik to ilaay '31
,2006 on issu6s relating to Northway Rd. That was several years
u".r?'i. irr" TCA1 bus issue came up. I was concerned, imong other things, about the speed of
iuit utrO delivery ril;lA entering Nbrthway Rd from Triphammer Rd at the,intersection with. ,
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ruloway, anorner sueer rnar enrers Norrnw+y-g + rrpnammer. \-rver. a penoo or ume r suggesreo a
speed bump, rros*utt t, i.O*i"g th. rpe",I limit a'nd school crossing signs' Ylqtis called a
;##;i;l;;;i;;; to i'Cnr uuftt; ittui thev can enter Northwav Rd-ealilv; that thevran use it
iik;; off run1p ii;;r;;J"t itrorougrtrat.;ihut they do not hav6 to slow ciown from 30 miles an
hour, saving th-e wear and tear to the road, is one of the malor Salety tssues'
I feel that the technical advantages to rerouting TCAT Bus 3-0 from t-]pl|.r-rd Rd to Northway Rd'
ur. fut outweighed by the safetf issues; that we have a moral responsibltity tq our ch,tldr?l t9,
_
take every meisure tb keep thein safe; that any safety measureswemieht make short ot movtng
ir,. ,ort.back to Upland fr.oad ur" noi"nougti. Ar"riu years back a TC1T bus hit and killed a
Cornell student at tfre intersection of Wait aild Thurston. One such fatal accident to a student at
intersections near Cayuga Heights School {s one too rhany for the parents of the student, the
school community, and, indeed, for all of qs,
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