Hi neighbors and petition-signers!

Last week, we had a meeting with Erin Cuddihy, a traffic engineer from the City of Ithaca and she has been hard at work on trying to bring improvements to Floral Avenue. All of you on this email have shown support of making improvements to this area. Maybe you are wondering what you might be able to do to help improve things. Here's your opportunity!  

Erin is is applying for a grant that would fund the construction of a multi-use path on the east side of Floral Ave within the city limits, as well as a sidewalk on the west side of the road in the places where the sidewalk is missing. 

Here’s a brief description of the project as I understand it:

If funding is secured, the existing Waterfront Trail would be extended to the south on the inlet-side of Floral Ave, past its current end-loop. It would run along the road, rather than along the water. On the uphill (west) side of Floral, they will connect the various pieces of sidewalk that currently exist and extend the sidewalk south to the city limits. There are also several traffic calming measures, such as raised crosswalks and push-button blinking crosswalk lights that are being proposed. While this project takes place in the city and not the town, I think it will have a positive impact on all who want to safely walk/bike into town, and those who drive into town with less risk of accidentally hitting someone. It is also hoped that these modifications could potentially reduce some of the speeding along this stretch of road, making it a safer place to live.

There are two ways you can help with this endeavor: 

1. Write a letter of support for the project that will go to Erin Cuddihy that she will include in her grant application, as proof of support. Attached is a template that you can copy and paste to modify as you wish. These letters should be sent to ecuddihy@cityofithaca.org by January 5 so that she has time to get them into the application.  

2. Show our support for this project at the January 3rd Common Council meeting. Erin needs Common Council to sign off on her grant application at the January 3rd meeting, before she submits it. Common Council has a lot of new members and this will be their very first meeting. It would be great to make it clear that there is a lot of support for this project.

Folks can participate in one of three ways:

• Attend in person at City Hall at 6:00 PM on January 3. Public comments occur as soon as the meeting is called to order and each person has three minutes to speak.
• Attend remotely via this link, where under the Register to Speak Remotely category a link appears at 9 AM on the day of a meeting (January 3rd) where you can register to speak.  Public comments occur as soon as the meeting is called to order and each person has three minutes to speak.
• Submit your written comments (it could be the same language as the letter in  item 1 above) to Council@CityofIthaca.org.

 Please share with anyone else you think might be interested!

Letter Template:

SAMPLE LETTER – FOR TOWN RESIDENTS

Date

Ms. Erin Cuddihy, P.E.
Transportation Engineer
City of Ithaca Department of Public Works
108 East Green Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Erin,

I’m pleased to submit this letter of support for the City of Ithaca’s Floral Avenue Multimodal Design and Construction project, and the related Transportation Alternatives Program/Carbon Reduction Program (TAP/CRP) application. I am excited that the City is doing this project in response to the widely circulated petition from neighbors requesting safety improvements to
Floral Avenue.

The plan which includes sidewalk improvements, a place for people to bike, better crosswalks, and traffic calming, will make Floral Ave. a better place to live and travel. I live nearby in the Town of Ithaca, and I look forward to being able to walk/bike safely to Downtown Ithaca, to shopping, to the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, etc.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXXXXXXXX