Grant sought for Cross River pedestrian safety improvements

By NEAL RENTZ

The Lewisboro Town Board voted unanimously on Feb. 24 to apply for a New York State Department of Transportation grant for sidewalks and other pedestrian safety improvements in Cross River.

If the grant is approved by the DOT, the town would be responsible for a 20% funding match.

Supervisor Tony Gonçalves said at the Town Board meeting that the Transportation Alternatives Program, or TAP, is providing $97.4 million to municipalities statewide. The grants are available every two years.

Aside from town funds, the grant match could be in the form of other grants or donations, Gonçalves said. 

As stated in the resolution approved this week, in 2011 the town adopted a Complete Streets policy intended to improve the safety of all users of town roads. The town completed a Bike and Pedestrian Plan in 2014 and in 2024 the Town Board approved a revised Comprehensive Plan “that identifies various improvements to the town’s transportation infrastructure, including pedestrian safety improvements in Cross River at the Route 121 and Route 35 intersection in the vicinity of the John Jay Middle School and High School campus.” 

The project calls for about 3,400 linear feet of new sidewalks and pedestrian crossings in Cross River.

Gonçalves said in the initial stages of projects such as the sidewalk and crosswalk proposal, the costs are just estimates because there has been no design or engineering work and the project has not been put out to bid, he said. 

According to the town’s detailed project estimates, which will be submitted to the DOT, the estimated total cost of the Cross River project is $4,018,629, the requested state assistance is $3,214,903, and the local match is $803,726. Gonçalves said he has spoken with an engineering firm, which provided estimates of their costs and the total cost of the project could be.

If the grant is provided to the town, preliminary work could begin, Gonçalves said.

Councilman Richard Sklarin said in 2023 he walked the Cross River area to research what the scope of the road safety measures could be taken. 

“Shouldn’t we have a good faith estimate” of the project, he asked. For example, a per foot standard for sidewalks, he said.

A calculation of the cost of the Cross River project should be done before applying for the state grant, Sklarin said.

Lewisboro is at a disadvantage in seeking the DOT because of its lack of density, and lower traffic than other municipalities seeking the grants, Sklarin said.

A specific road safety plan for Cross River could attract new businesses to the hamlet, Sklarin said. “It’s a marketing opportunity,” he said. 

The grant application should consider how things are different in Cross River from when the town submitted previous applications for the grant, Sklarin said.

Councilwoman Julia Hadlock said the Economic Development and the Transportation Mobility sections of the town’s revised Comprehensive Plan reference the need for sidewalks as a goal.

“We can show that our Comprehensive Plan was very collaborative and involved a lot of community voices,” which would help the town obtain the grant, she said. “I think there are things that are definitely in our favor this time that may not have been present in the past.”

The grant resolution mentions the 2011 Complete Streets policy, the 2014 Bike and Pedestrian Plan and the 2024 revised Comprehensive Plan, Gonçalves said. He said the grant application resolution has received support letters from Cross River businesses.

If the town receives the DOT grant the next stage would be to refine the engineering of the project and do detailed construction drawings, Councilman Dan Welsh said. Seeking the grant is “the very, very earliest process,” he said. Without the grant the town cannot afford detailed engineering for the project, he said. 

“Until we go out to bid, we’re not going to know what this thing costs,” Gonçalves said.