Trustees Move Forward on Roundabout Study for the Five Corners

The Municipal Services Committee of the Scarsdale Board of Trustees met on Monday, August 2nd to consider putting out a request for proposals (RFP) for a traffic engineering study of a potential roundabout at the Heathcote Five Corners. The RFP is to determine the feasibility of a roundabout, including how to keep traffic moving at the Five Corners while the construction is underway. The selected firm will be charged with studying the neighborhood impact of a roundabout and its effect on the flow of traffic. In addition, the selected firm will be asked to examine other five-leg roundabouts in New York State and report on its findings.

Trustee Flisser opened the meeting and immediately voiced her concerns about the time frame for completing the roundabout study. The project was tentatively scheduled for completion by February 28, 2011, but Trustee Flisser was concerned this was not enough time, and that the community would see the project as a rushed job.

Mayor Stevens commented that part of the timing of the project was being driven by the timeframe of the Board of Trustees. She was insistent that the study be completed before this Board’s term ends in April , 2011, while others, including Trustee Flisser, did not see this as an issue. Mayor Stevens also said that if the firm did not have enough time to finish the project in the allotted time, they could tell the Board at the various scheduled public meetings.

Ultimately, the Trustees decided to extend the timeframe. Phase 1 of the study is to be completed by December 21, 2010 (rather than December 14th), and it is scheduled for completion by March 7, 2011 (rather than February 28th). Part of the decision to extend the time allotted was that the original time did not take the holidays into account. The public meetings regarding the construction were also pushed back from December 1st to December 15th and from January 14th to February 14th.

A citizen spoke about aggressive drivers in Scarsdale and her uncertainty over how they would behave in a roundabout. In her view, the traffic light now at the Five Corners provides a clear signal whether to stop or go, despite the temperament of the driver. Without the light, she said, she is worried about the danger and intimidation factors of aggressive drivers in a roundabout.

After a motion to move the RFP onto the Village Board agenda, the meeting was adjourned.