Plattekill Avenue’s extreme width and lack of parking comes from the fact that there was a firehouse in the middle of everything, and there needed to be a lot of room to get the trucks in and out of it. With the only firehouse now on Henry W. Dubois Drive, Village of New Paltz officials are taking another look at Plattekill to figure out how to make it safer. Wide roads tend to encourage fast driving, and a row of parked cars tends to calm that down.
Trustees Michele Zipp and William Wheeler-Murray had some suggestions at the May 24 meeting about where to add in new metered spots, but some of those could be in front of residences. That’s not been done before in the village, the mayor pointed out. Tim Rogers noted that homeowners there are “interested in enforcement,” but that might not be what they are expecting. Adding or rearranging spots in front of commercial properties received broader support, but Murray also noted that parking regulations could be used instead of paid spots.
At the top of the street, Zipp would like to see a bulb-out at the Starbucks side of the Main Street crosswalk, similar to the one just across the way. That will have to be part of a broader conversation with state transportation officials, one that will also include improving safety at other crosswalks on Route 299 in the village.
For a simpler calming measure, the idea was suggested to paint traffic striping and fog lines just to ensure that drivers don’t drift too far to the left as they pass the former firehouse.
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