pool open tuesday..road improvements planned for ardsley thanks to ridge hill settlement

THEODORE YOUNG COMMUNITY CENTER POOL TO OPEN TUESDAY

I received the following from William Carter, Commissioner at the TDYCC re: indoor pool.

The pool is fixed and the water is clear. The water temp this morning is 68 degrees and is steadily coming up. We anticipate the pool temp being in the 70s by Tuesday so we will be open for business on Tuesday morning. It may still be a little cold but we will be open.. The following article appeared in NEWSDAY today about efforts to address Ardsley’s traffic gridlock. Funding for this road improvement is coming from the Ridge Hill settlement. The town had filed a lawsuit when Ridge Hill was first proposed. We settled the lawsuit and received a pledge of $5 million for road/intersection improvements. The Ardsley road improvements should improve traffic flows.

PAUL FEINER





Ardsley plans to widen traffic-plagued Route 9A

Originally published: February 15, 2013



By ALYSSA SUNKIN. SPECIAL TO NEWSDAY

Work on widening a 350-yard stretch of Route 9A in downtown Ardsley plagued by gridlock is expected to begin later this year, village administrators said.

The project will add 5 feet to the width of Route 9A, or Saw Mill River Road, between Ashford Avenue and Heatherdell Road, allowing for an additional southbound lane leading to the intersection with Ashford Avenue.

Currently, a single southbound lane widens to three some 30-40 yards before the intersection. One of the lanes is for right turns, one for left turns and one for cars traveling straight through the intersection. When traffic backs up to the single lane behind cars turning left, the road is too narrow for cars to pass on the right. What results is a line of cars sometimes extending north as far as three-quarters of a mile during peak hours.

________________________________________

________________________________________

The project, costing about $1.2 million and six years in the making, will add a southbound lane that will allow cars to pass while ensuring pedestrian safety, according to village administrators.

"It's going to improve the traffic flows," Ardsley Mayor Peter Porcino said. "It'll improve flows through the downtown and we're hoping it'll improve flows in the Route 9A-Ashford Avenue intersection, getting people through quicker and reducing pollution."

Work is expected to take six months to complete. No date has been set for the work as officials will need to submit the expansion plans to the state for approval. It is not clear how long the approval process will take.

Ardsley suffers from several traffic bottlenecks dating back to the 1920s, when construction of the Saw Mill River Parkway segregated the village from Dobbs Ferry to its west. The situation was exacerbated when the New York State Thruway was built in the 1950s, severing most of the east-west arteries, Porcino said. The Ashford Avenue Bridge over the Saw Mill River Parkway is now the only east-west artery, and is congested.

To widen Route 9A, the village acquired by eminent domain 3,216 square feet of land from three commercial property owners on the northbound side of the road.

According to village officials, ISJ Management, which owns the property where CVS sits at 717-725 Saw Mill River Rd., received $90,000 for 1,232 square feet. Bernie and Sylvia Love, who own the strip mall at 715 Saw Mill River Rd., received $50,000 for 676 square feet. Joseph Butta, of Butta Enterprises Inc., who owns the closed Westchester Garage at 701 Saw Mill River Rd., was compensated $100,000 for 1,308 square feet.

Butta and the Loves declined to comment, and ISJ could not be reached for comment.

Funds for the land as well as the work come from a $5 million pot established by the developer of the Ridge Hill luxury mall and housing complex in Yonkers after Ardsley, the Town of Greenburgh and the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson filed a lawsuit expressing concerns that the shopping development some 3.5 miles away would adversely affect traffic in the municipalities.

The suit was settled in 2007, and developer Forest City Ratner established the fund to be used by the municipalities to improve intersections and roads.

The improvement to the intersection at Saw Mill River Road and Ashford Avenue is one of potentially three projects the settlement might fund.

A second $2.6 million project is planned for the intersection of Jackson Avenue and North Sprain Road in Greenburgh, said Thomas Madden, commissioner of Greenburgh's Department of Community Development and Conservation and project manager for the Ridge Hill Intermunicipal Intersection Committee.

Work there will include the installation of a traffic signal and realignment of the intersection, as well as the widening of Jackson Avenue from North Sprain Road to the Sprain Ridge Park entrance. Drainage work will also be done using money from a dedicated drainage improvement fund.

So far, no third project has been planned.

"People are generally very happy about the proposed improvements," Madden said. "The improvements focus on safety and alleviating traffic congestion in the area. The elected officials are very supportive, as this will offer relief from the congestions in the area."