Town planner outlines compromise options for Birchwood sidewalks as speed-hump code and school zones are explored

Laura Robertson, the town planner, said the Birchwood sidewalk outreach reached 11 residents and included engineering support from Jack of Weston, who answered technical questions about alignment and maintenance. Robertson described a specific design trade-off: "5 foot is the minimum for 2 way traffic, and we're only putting the sidewalk on 1 side of the road," and said the committee expects the highest pedestrian volumes near the Oaktree/Birchwood School corner to remain at 5 feet while narrower sections might be acceptable elsewhere.

Committee members raised concerns about tree-root damage, snow-plow clearance and how a proposed vertical curb could affect event parking at Birchwood School. Robertson recommended a deed-and-tax search and preparing a liability FAQ for residents; she also said Complete Streets will help identify other town segments where 3-foot sidewalks exist and the town will coordinate with the highway and fire departments before firming a final design. On traffic-calming, Robertson said the town may consider adopting a narrowly written code like Rotterdam’s to limit speed-hump installations to defined locations, and that the Capital Region Transportation Council will provide technical assistance to review school-zone boundaries and any required speed-limit adjustments.