030405 Fox Lane to finally get turning lane

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The Public Schools of Westchester County New York

030405 Fox Lane to finally get turning lane

By ANN DENION HOSKINS

The Bedford Town Board has given Supervisor Lee Roberts the nod to proceed with long-awaited plans for a turning lane in front of the Fox Lane campus.

The Feb 15 board meeting also saw the board earmark $100,000 to widen Route 172 under a "reverse betterment agreement" with the state Department of Transportation (DOT). The deal reimburses local municipalities for work done on state roads as long as all plans meet state requirements, in this case up to $750,000. Sidewalk and drainage work on Route 117 was financed through such an agreement.

"It's taken much longer than anyone had anticipated," said Ms. Roberts. Completion was originally scheduled for the 2002-3 school year.."We just got the project agreement from the state," she said. "The initial phase has been vetted. Now we need to acquire the land."

Some of the land needed for the new entrance was turned over to the state by the Bedford Central School District in a move voters approved during the May 2002 election.

However, the town is still negotiating the purchase of land on Route 172 west of the existing entrance and across the street from Baldwin Road.

Plans on file with the Bedford department of planning show that the property belongs to Pollock and Arthur Spiegel, who are also selling more than 100 acres of adjacent land for development.

The town is going pay for the acquisition costs, along with the preliminary engineering for the project, said Patricia Ploss, Bedford's director of finance. Costs for the remaining phases of the project, including construction, construction management, and supervision, will be reimbursed by the state, she said.

In 2002, the town borrowed $120,000 for preliminary engineering for the project and has spent about $45,000 on engineering and $4,000 on an appraisal. In 2004, the town borrowed additional funds to pay for the land, Ms. Ploss said.

It's common for land acquisition negotiations to hold up projects such as this, said Rich Peters, regional planning and program manager for the state DOT. "Doing the survey, making offers, it's just a long process. It takes a while, and it's one of the processes we have to be careful with."

The DOT's insistence that no left turns be allowed into or out of Succabone Road at Route 172 also generated the kind of discussion that adds time to these projects, said Mr. Peters. The state does not build in a way inconsistent with what people expect along a state highway, he explained. Nobody thinks about technical details such as the width of the shoulders or the length of the turning lane until they actually go out and drive on the road, he said.

"When people see things they don't expect, people do strange things," he said. "It's a safety issue."

Meanwhile, Bedford Central School District superintendent Dr. Debra Jackson is preparing students and parents for construction of the three-story school addition slated for the area where the traffic circle now stands.

Dr. Jackson sent a Feb. 10 letter to parents letting them know what to expect as the Fox Lane portion of work approved in a $67.8 million bond referendum gets under way. The district also plans to demolish a building in the back of the high school, conduct extensive interior renovations, and build a new tennis court and new practice fields.

The district is in the process' of receiving bids for the work and expects to award the bid by late March. Dr. Jackson encourages drivers to look for monthly updates on, the district's Web site, www.bedford.kl2.ny.us, where drawings of the site plan will also be posted.

She's hoping that when the ground thaws in the spring, workers can begin fencing off the construction area. When work begins, the school bus might be a better option for those who normally travel by car, Dr. Jackson said.

"Sometimes it has to do with, `If I can get home quicker by bus than by car, I might think about the bus.' If people find mass transit quicker and easier, we can help with that."

Major changes set for spring at

the Fox Lane Campus

• The current traffic circle in front of the high school will be cordoned off for the new construction.

• The current parking lot along the campus roadway will become' tine bus staging area and will be closed to all other vehicles.

• Student parking will remain in its current location.

• A temporary parking area will be developed for staff' and others near the baseball field,with shuttle service to 'the school.

• The lawn adjoining the middle school circle will be reconfigured for parking.

Parent drop-off will be permitted, but parent pickup will be limited to after the school buses leave the campus at 2:45 p.m.

Campus traffic will be limited to emergencies from 2 to 2:45 p.m. on school days.