NYDOT propses rumble strips on all two-lane roads, voice your opinion
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- November
- 10
Westchester Cycle Club president Dave Wilson just sent this alert for action to the club.
Folks,
As our court case against the state on the Route 100 rumble-strips wends its way through state Supreme Court, the state DOT has now proposed making rumble strips the preferred design on all two-lane roads in New York. This is terribly flawed state policy, and we need to tell the DOT to shelve this ill-conceived plan that would turn New York into one of the most unfriendly places to ride bicycles in the US.
Below is the letter I sent today to state DOT Commissioner Stanley Gee. Please consider sending your own. You can also email your remarks at https://www.nysdot.gov/about-nysdot/contact
You should also contact your state legislator to urge their support for our position. You can find out who represents you in the Assembly at http://assembly.state.ny.us/ and in the Senate at http://senate.state.ny.us
Yours fighting back,
WCC President Dave WilsonCommissioner Stanley Gee
NYS Department of Transportation
50 Wolf Rd. Albany, NY 12232
Dear Commissioner Gee,
As president of the 1,400-member Westchester Cycle Club, and co-founder of the Westchester Putnam Bike Walk Alliance, I write to oppose the proposed changes in NY State transportation policy to make rumble strips the preferred practice in the design of all secondary roads, with a few exceptions.
We believe that such a policy will make our roads less safe for cyclists who use the roads for transportation and recreation. The state’s installation of rumble strips on Route 100 in Yorktown and Somers have already caused several injuries by riders who crashed to the pavement when they had to negotiate the rumble strips and lost control of their bikes. The rumble strips have also caused severe deterioration to the shoulder surface, and will require remediation far quicker than it would have without installation of the strips.
Your proposed policy is at variance with the practices recommended by the Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and many other standard-setting agencies. They all recommend installing them on two-lane roads only when there is a documented history of drift-off road accidents.
This policy is unnecessary, and will prove costly to the state.- both in maintenance and in the costs to cyclists, who are certain to be injured by this wrong-headed highway safety initiative.
We urge you to reject the proposal, a highway safety initiative that will make our roads less safe for thousands who use the roads on bicycles.
Dave, thanks for alerting us to this issue.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 12:41 PM by Randall Wolf. 
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