Woodstock-retained traffic engineer Stephan Maffia says more attention should be paid to traffic concerns from a plan to resurrect a gas station at Route 28 and Basin Road abandoned for many decades. All that is left of the single-pump station and garage across from Stewart’s and Zena Road is a boarded-up and graffiti-covered building.
Fifty or so years ago, Route 28 was a two-lane road. Station owner and town justice Rudi Baumgarten sometimes held court in the garage. But times have changed, and the traffic volume is much higher.
“According to the traffic study, with a relatively short section of roadway — I think it was about a half-mile stretch — in that review, there were 66 accidents in I think what was a five- or six-year period. That could be a significant crash history,” Maffia told the planning board at its November 16 meeting. “And that’s why I think it warrants additional detailed analysis.”
Plans call for a 2400-square-foot convenience store and eight pumps, reduced from a previous proposal. It has been on the planning board radar since 2019, but Covid delayed discussion for several years.
“There should be much more detailed analysis of the recent crash history on Route 28 in the area of the site, and the intersection of Zena Road. That detailed analysis should include the frequency of accidents, as well as the accident rates as compared to statewide averages,” Maffia said.
Maffia believes incorrect speeds were used in sight distance analysis by the applicant.
“As we know, the speed limit on 28 is posted at 45 miles per hour. But we know from not only observation, but from records I think from the state that showed that the actual speeds in that section of route 28 exceed the 45-mile-an-hour limit by as much as eight to ten miles per hour,” he said. “That needs to be corrected, and that sight distance measurement should be reviewed and updated and discussed in terms of safety and the potential to modify or change or move the points of access on Route 28.”
Planning board chair Peter Cross addressed what he sees as major safety concerns because of the number of close calls at the intersection.
“I’ve seen accidents here, and I’ve had some really close ones. And the last close one I had was coming down the hill toward Woodstock,” Cross said. “The light turned green right in front of me. There were two cars in front of me. They took off. I was going 45 to50. The car in front of me decided it was going to all of a sudden to take a right turn into Stewart’s. The only good thing was he was quick pulling in.”
Someone making a right turn within 100 feet of the traffic light into the new gas station, with people going the opposite direction, toward Kingston
People going the opposite direction toward Kingston making a right turn within 100 feet of the traffic light into the proposed new gas station is a real concern. “You’re going to have a rear-end accident, guaranteed,” Cross said.
Taylor Palmer of the law firm Cuddy & Feder, conceded Cross had a good point, but noted a lot of vehicles will have already slowed down because of the light.
“Stewart’s can be their own problem, but we’re trying to help that issue today by having less vehicles turning left because they’re going to come right into our site,” Palmer said. “But the stoplight actually helps us have vehicles be going a slower speed.”
Based on state Department of Transportation input, the plans call for no left turns either into or out of the site, said traffic engineer Frank Filiciotto of Creighton Manning, retained by the applicant. DOT has given the go-ahead for stage two, the detailed design phase.
“Please understand the DOT can say what they want going in and out of 28. The planning board approves the site plan regardless,” Cross said.
Filiciotto said he was just trying to provide background, and noted DOT plays a significant role because it operates the traffic signal and has jurisdiction over Route 28.
In designing access to the site, you don’t want to create confusion, he noted.
“Gas stations are convenience-based uses that rely on that same flow of traffic in order to essentially survive,” Filiciotto said. “If you create a situation where you need to make a circuitous maneuver to get here, you’re either going to create other issues that are unintended, or the business is not going to survive.”
The high number of crashes at the intersection was an issue, he said, but the applicant can only do so much beyond the property line to improve an existing condition. “We’re only seeking one [curb cut on Route 28], and we’re seeking really a half because we’re not proposing lefts in or lefts out,” Filiciotto said. “So we’ve had we have a consolidation of access points along the state highway. And we’ve eliminated all access from Basin Road.”
The planning board must conduct an impact review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and schedule a site visit. Then a public hearing will be held.
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