So file this in the category of -"If you give local leaders less than 24 hours notice to attend a meeting a week before the holidays - do you really want them to attend....?"
We received this press release by email from the NYS DOT after hours yesterday for public input sessions held today.
We will be attending these sessions and will see if the community and small business leaders in the following neighborhoods, who have substantive pedestrian and bike safety issues with DOT from across LI, are participating:
Elmont, Hempstead, Uniondale, Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, Freeport, Mineola, New Hyde Park, Floral Park, Franklin Square, Wantagh, Hicksville, Westbury, Bethpage, Syosset, Farmingdale, Amityville, Lindenhurst, Babylon, Huntington Station, Huntington, Port Jefferson Station, Kings Park, Smithtown, Middle Island, Coram, Gordon Heights, Central Islip, Brentwood, Riverhead.
There are others that we may be missing for sure.
We encourage folks to attend these extremely last minute public meetings and weigh in on what needs to be redesigned on the many dangerously designed roadways that NYSDOT manages.
Studies have shown that speed is the number one cause of death from crashes with pedestrians and bicyclists. Roads designed for speed obviously contribute to these tragedies.
Of course we welcome the input that the NYSDOT is providing but public meetings should include the public - not simply vendors and govt staff.
If a robust amount of LI community leaders are not on these zoom calls we would request a special meeting for LI communities and at the very least the ability to leave the public hearing open for a minimum of 30 days.
The LI Smart Growth Summit was held on December 6th with over 1000 community, local government, small business leaders in attendance and over 90 elected offcials. There was once again a session on fixing LI's dangerous roads.
Would have been a perfect place to advertise a session like this but once again NYS DOT was a no show.
Here is the information from DOT for today's session if you can take the time from your work or family obligations to jump on:
Public feedback is essential to the success of this effort, and the input received will be incorporated into the initial draft of the Plan to be released in early 2025. The public is also invited to visit the ATSP website and complete the survey and to register to attend the following virtual public input forums on Tuesday, December 17:
From 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Register at: https://lnkd.in/eVHWHYQz
? From 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Register at: https://lnkd.in/e2bf8nTY
