Niskayuna committee reviews traffic counts, eyes local e‑bike rules and school speed zones

NISKAYUNA — Committee members on June 4 reviewed recent traffic counts and discussed options for local regulation of e‑bikes and targeted school‑zone safety improvements.

A police department representative told the Police and Public Safety Committee the town is coordinating overlapping enforcement with the New York State Police and the Schenectady County Sheriff’s Office on Route 7 to increase roadway presence. The representative said the department will deploy additional traffic counters where residents have raised concerns, including Buckingham Drive near a school bus stop.

The committee reviewed a traffic count on Birchwood Road conducted May 2–6. The department presented numbers showing 9,356 vehicles analyzed in that sampling period, an average speed of 27 mph and an 85th percentile speed of 31 mph in a posted 30 mph zone. The presenter compared that to prior samples — roughly 19,580 vehicles with an average 31 mph and 85th percentile 35 in an earlier one‑day sample, and a 2024 sample of about 23,833 vehicles with average speed 30 mph and 85th percentile 35 — and concluded speeds have generally remained similar or modestly lower over the multi‑year view.

"From a 10,000‑foot view, generally speeds have stayed the same if not lowered," the department representative said, and the committee agreed to continue monitoring and to consider further studies if conditions change.

Bill Shatraw, Complete Streets Committee chair, framed the e‑bike question as one of overlapping authority. "The state has laws that pertain to e‑bikes, but they don't regulate a lot, and they actually leave a lot of room to local municipalities to do things," Shatraw said, urging the town to review ordinances used by neighboring municipalities. He said some towns permit class 1 and class 2 e‑bikes wherever traditional bicycles are allowed and that the Complete Streets group will examine age, helmet and access rules outlined in a short 'AHA' (Age, Helmets, Access) handout.

Committee members stressed safety limits for high‑speed roads such as Troy Road, where they said bicycle travel would be unsafe, and discussed multi‑million‑dollar sidewalk and intersection redesigns on Belletown Road and River Road to improve crossings near schools. The committee noted four existing 20 mph school speed zones (Burr Sherwood, Hillside, Nittany and Saint Catherine) and asked town staff to evaluate additional school corridors — including Glencliff, Iroquois and Mountain View — for possible speed‑zone or engineering changes.

No local ordinance changes or formal votes were taken at the meeting; Complete Streets will return recommendations to the town board after reviewing other towns’ language and local engineering data.