Mt. Kisco Close to Applying for Federal Grant to Improve Street Safety
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Mount Kisco will apply for a federal grant as soon as next month that officials hope will provide funding to employ various strategies to improve safety for pedestrians, drivers and bicyclists in the village.
Last Saturday, the village’s transportation consultant AKRF, Inc. held a public forum at the library on the Mount Kisco Complete Streets Study where members of the village’s Complete Streets Committee and the public brainstormed over which improvements should have the highest priority. The consultants also shared data they have collected that is part of the study that needs to be completed and included in the application for the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant.
Elaine Du, AKRF’s project manager for the Mount Kisco Complete Streets Study, said she and her colleagues will take the comments from community members, who split up into four groups and each presented suggestions, to be part of the SS4A grant application that is anticipated to be submitted sometime in February.
At the Village Board’s next meeting on Jan. 21, AKRF will be presenting its findings to officials.
“At that point, we’ll be finalizing a list of improvements, discuss it with our Complete Streets Committee, and so we’re hoping that we’ll be having a Complete Streets Committee meeting in early February,” said Du, who led Saturday’s two-hour forum. “So, after that we will finalize a Complete Streets plan with the Village Board of Trustees, with the committee, and also the goal is to apply, for the village to apply for the 2025 SS4A grants.”
She said the idea behind the Complete Streets work is to come up with a list of small and large improvements and use money that could be awarded to the village to ensure roadways are designed to be safe for everyone.
A survey was also conducted in the latter part of last year with participation from just over 400 respondents.
“As a result, it’s a balancing act. We want to balance the needs of vehicles, of bicycles and pedestrians,” Du said.
Improvements could range from enhanced striping of crosswalks, improved signage, room for bikes, a pedestrian connection to Leonard Park, better lighting in areas where visibility is a problem and the narrowing of the vehicle travel lanes on South Moger Avenue from an excessively wide 20 feet, which can often encourage motorists to speed, to a more conventional 11 feet.
There have been persistent complaints from the community about the danger of Mount Kisco’s streets for pedestrians, including repeated accidents, particularly at certain intersections.
Data revealed by AKRF last Saturday, showed that there were more than 1,500 accidents involving vehicles on the village’s streets in the five-year period between June 1, 2019, and May 31, 2024. Du said the data is crucial because it showed patterns at various hotspots before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
That amounts to nearly one accident every day on the village’s streets. Close to 40 intersections were evaluated.
During the study period, the intersection outside Northern Westchester Hospital at Main Street and South Bedford Road had 70 accidents, followed by Kisco Avenue and Main Street with 67. Of the accidents at the Kisco Avenue-Main Street intersection, seven of those involved a vehicle hitting a pedestrian.
Other problem intersections have been at North Bedford Road and Preston Way (56 accidents), Main Street at North and South Moger Avenue (43 accidents) and at Main Street and Moore Avenue (37 accidents).
North Bedford and Preston Way was also the scene of six vehicle-pedestrian accidents.
A challenge for the village is that the main thoroughfares, such as Main Street and North and South Bedford Road, are controlled by the state Department of Transportation (DOT), while Lexington Avenue is a county road. Any improvements on those streets would need authorization from those agencies.
Village officials are optimistic that AKRF can help the municipality catch the attention of the DOT and the county because they have experience in transportation, engineering and planning.
Deputy Mayor Theresa Flora said she’s hopeful that the process will yield substantive results, although there is also the pressure of having many residents with expectations of improvement. She said there may be short-term actions that could be attempted elsewhere in the village.
Village Trustee Angie Garcia-Guerra said enforcement may also be a key factor, particularly where speeding is prevalent. Portions of Lexington Avenue, including near Neighbors Link at Columbus Avenue, have seen lots of close calls.
“In my opinion I think the close calls should count but how do you look at that data?” Garcia-Guerra said. “When people get tickets for speeding, they change behaviors.”
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
