Report From Roosevelt Island Residents Association Island Services Committee - Transportation, Parking & 311 Reporting System

Image of April RIRA Common Council Meeting

Received the following report from Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Island Services Committee Chairperson Aaron Hamburger that was prepared for and delivered to the April RIRA Common Council Meeting.

RIRA ISLAND SERVICES COMMITTEE (ISC) REPORT TO COMMON COUNCIL

Update On transportation Issues

º Tram Project – At the end of March, the project is on schedule, even one day ahead of schedule.

º Q-102 – Effective the 1st week of April, this bus route will change from an alternating route to one constant route. It will go north from the RI bridge, up to Coler, then south on Main St. to the subway and Goldwater, turning north again on Main St, stopping at the subway and other Main St. stops before leaving RI at the RI Bridge.

º F Train – Operation has been going reasonably well with no new problems introduced by the addition of Tram passengers. What’s helped is MTA personnel deployed on the platform during the morning rush hour to direct passenger traffic.

º Red Bus

- Queens Service -- This service ended 4/1/10 due to very low ridership.

- Manhattan Service – The schedule will continue thru April. Evaluation of ridership in May could lead to some schedule changes or reductions. Recent reports, however, indicate ridership is increasing.

- RI Service – The current system in Southtown – one-way route, south on East Main St., north on West Main St. – will continue until the Tram is back in service. Operation in September and thereafter is under discussion within RIOC with inputs by RIRA Committees and other residents. RIOC seems to be leaning to the one-way (north) West Main St. proposal which in addition to solving the “pedestrian safety” problem has some beneficial side effects (parking spots and an off-road truck loading and unloading area), but one key disadvantage – a 30 second extra walk for passengers going to the subway.

Frank Farance has an alternate proposal and there are several more modifications proposed by others. There will be no decision until probably August and vigorous discussion and negotiations until then.

Update On parking Issues

The ISC needs to be involved in improving parking availability on RI.

º On Main St. there are still too many vehicles illegally parked for long periods of time. Also, many vehicles have lapsed parking stickers.

Public Safety must get aggressive in enforcing parking regulations.

º East Drive at Goldwater Hospital – This street is still posted “No Parking” despite RIOC’s promise to remove these signs. ISC will follow up on this .

RI – 311

Jonathan Kalkin, supported by Frank Farance, has asked the ISC to look into re-installing the RI – 311 system. This is a computer reporting system for residents where various service problems (needed road repairs, safety incidents, bus problems, lighting outages, etc.) can be relayed to the appropriate department of RIOC and follow-up reports made.

ISC will accept this challenge.

Aaron Hamburger, Chair

UPDATE 10 AM - THE Q102 Bus route change will begin on April 18 not first week of April.