I had the opportunity to sit in on last night's Council meeting, the first I've attended in quite some time. Please forgive the length of my summary.
Several topics were discussed, including the Police Chief asking the Council to *please* speed up the process of getting his new building beyond a 'needs analysis'; AHOME asking to be allowed to pursue a COAH housing proposal; and a gentleman who spent about ten minutes making blunt accusations of collusion by the democrats on a variety of topics, all of which have made the rounds here.
By far the most talked about topic was the proposed ferry, and the same experts from Vollmer who did the traffic study presented conceptual studies of the four sites under consideration: the marina @ Rt. 5, the Binghamton, Edgewater Commons, and the Prominade @ Gorge Road. Other than a gentleman who is suspicious (convinced) that the Port Authority has a hidden agenda to create commuter lots against our wishes, just about everybody in attendance declared themselves "pro-ferry" and several people also qualified that endoresement with a strong "depending on the site."
I listened carefully to the different speakers, and there seemed to be two leading candidates for the location(s). I've grouped those ideas below, and then I've drawn conclusions at the bottom.
Group 1, which included Vollmer, believes that the marina offers the best location by far, and the Promenade is a distant second choice.
In their eyes, the main strengths of the marina are that there would be no open parking lot on the site; the route through the site for the buses and drop-off cars is short and quick; the routes into the site can be made very friendly for traffic with extended turning lanes from River Road; it is owned by the Borough, (so site improvements and environmental concerns can be addressed with fewer layers of paperwork and lawyers than if it had to go through two separate approvals by the borough and the owner); and it is in the proximity of a lot of residences, so walking is encouraged.
In their eyes, the main weakness of the site is that the noise of the ferry or idling buses will be loud for the waterfront residences. According to the accuostician, the noise from River Road will be louder than the site noise during the time that the ferry would be operating, so noise should not affect residences west of River Road.
Group 2, which included several long-time residents, recommend that the ferry be located at the Binghamton.
In their eyes, the main strengths are that there are two entrances and three exits from the site; it is sort-of centrally located in town, so everybody can get to it easily; there is plenty of room for cars to drop-off and pick-up ferry-riders; there are several residential communities close to it for walking commuters; and the closest 'residents' are actually in the hotel, so we shouldn't be too concerned about noise.
In their eyes, the weaknesses of the Binghamton are that the parking lot is already badly organized; the shops will lose some of their parking spots; and the adjacent parking will require tight restrictions and enforcement patrols.
My *personal* conclusions:
I see two distinct lines of thought that have led the two groups to such different conclusions. And both sides have very good arguments.
Both groups believe that nearby residents will walk and some people will opt to take the shuttle/jitney buses. The main difference between the two groups is that Group 1 believes that at max rush-hour, 85% of the riders will walk or shuttle, and about 30 riders will be dropped off or picked up by car. Group 2 fears that there will be a lot more drop-offs and pick-ups by car, say up to 50% of the riders, and wants to be sure that this drop-off/pick-up traffic does not impede other traffic.
This difference explains to me the difference in their choice of location. Group 1 has optimized their selection for fewer cars, and so what traffic there is can use Rt 5 rather than clogging River Road, and Group 2 has optimized their selection to accommodate a much larger number of cars, with large waiting areas a good distance from River Road.
These fundamental differences also explain the counter-arguments that the two groups have against the other group's selection. Group 1 believes that the abundance of parking at the Binghamton site will actually encourage more cars, and will virtual guarantee that the fears of Group 2 that there *will* be more cars will be fulfilled. Group 2 sees the marina site and believes that it will overflow with cars and clog traffic up and down River Road, as well as up Rt 5 -- making a difficult intersection unbearable.
So, that's what I concluded from listening to both sides, though at the time I hadn't really formed any conclusions of my own on what the best solution might be to satisfy everybody.
I left after the session was closed to the public, and I went home to help prepare the wedding invitations until midnight. My fiance, after listening to me rehash the discussion during the envelope-stuffing, came to a conclusion that I've heard before, but which I haven't heard for some time.
She concluded that a good compromise might be to select both the northern-most and southern-most feasible sites, and operate the ferry in a loop so it hits both landings in one-roundtrip. At each location, make *all* the site improvements necessary to dilute any negative effects of drop-off/pick-up traffic, and also to maximize the benefits for Edgewater's walkers and create shorter trips for our shuttle-riders. I'm beginning to think that this might be the best solution to address everybody's concerns.
Regards,
Burr
