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Lansing officials are exploring a town-wide traffic study to determine the impact of several new and proposed developments throughout the town.  Supervisor Kathy Miller said last week that a limited traffic study of the East Shore Drive / Waterwagon / Sun Path area suggested by the Planning Board to answer questions about the proposed Novalane  subdivision may not be enough to provide the town with comprehensive data on increased traffic.

"One of the things I am concerned about is that this is a specific traffic study for that particular area," Miller said.  "I think going forward we need ot discuss conducting a general traffic study.  The Planning Board would like a larger scoped study.  We have three roads that lead into town -- East Shore, Triphammer and Warren Roads, all of which are under population increases.  So to study one particular corridor may not be the most efficacious way to do this."

The request came out of a discussion at the April 28th Planning Board meeting.  The Novalane Subdivision will initially bring seven new residences to the area, and perhaps more in a later phase.  Part of that plan is to extend Smuggler's Path south to connect with Eastlake Road.  Planning Board member Rick Prybyl said there are already serious traffic issues along the affected section of East Shore Drive, and said that traffic should be addressed before any new development there is considered.

"What does this do to traffic in the area?" he asked.  "(The developer's materials) said it only increases it by five percent.  It's not about the five percent -- it's about this whole area has some serious traffic issues that need to be taken care of.  I know that the State DOT weighs in heavily on that, but somehow we have to force the issue with the DOT.  We have to have that straightened out before more development in this area can occur."

He made a motion that the Planning Board 'demand a through Traffic Study to mitigate the risk of any number of traffic accidents that could/would occur in this location and are increased by the level of this development'.

At a later Planning Board meeting Prybyl requested that the Town Board include the Planning Board in any of their Planning of this Traffic Study.  The Planning Board sent it to the Town Board for feedback before the next Planning Board Meeting.

Miller suggested meeting with traffic study experts to get opinions and a sense of what it will cost.  She also suggested that developers could be asked to pay into a fund that would pay the Town back for at least part of the study.

Councilman Robert Cree said he would like to invite an expert to address the board so they can learn more about the process.

Miller said the issue should be sent back to the Planning Board to see if they could go forward with the Novalane project without the limited traffic study while the Town Board pursues a more wide ranging one.

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