GLOVERSVILLE — Contractors for the state Department of Transportation are removing and repainting lines and crosswalks at the Four Corners today that do not meet state standards, just a few weeks after the city repainted the crosswalks to improve pedestrian safety.
DOT Region 2 Public Information Officer James Piccola said today that Accent Stripe Inc. has been contracted by the state to remove striping and repaint the lines and crosswalks at the intersection of Main and Fulton streets as the Route 29A intersection does not meet state standards.
“There are standard specifications, also widths that we have for specific pavement markings,” Piccola said, pointing to specific measurements and size for road markings, as well as colors. “We always use white at our crosswalks, our other pavement markings would be yellow.”
Work by Accent Stripe got underway early this morning and is expected to be complete later today. The work includes repainting crosswalks that were painted maroon and white by the city Department of Public works to enhance visibility within the past few weeks as part of the city’s plans to improve pedestrian safety downtown.
Piccola confirmed that the state is performing the work at the Four Corners intersection to return the repainted crosswalks to state standards.
“I just spoke with our engineer on that project and he told me yes, the city did go and paint a few of those crosswalks and unfortunately those were out of spec.,” Piccola said. “We have six counties that make up Region 2, more than likely we came across that area that was done so we sent crews out to take care of that, because we saw that was out of spec.”
“It’s no big deal, it’s just that they weren’t up to the standard specifications we have for our crosswalks,” he added.
Piccola said the state contacted Mayor Vincent DeSantis and DPW Director Dale Trumbull to make them aware of the situation and to notify the city of the work that would be performed by the state to return the intersection to state standards.
“There was no issue, the mayor and DPW director were very understanding. Those things sometimes happen,” Piccola said. “It was just a complete misunderstanding.”
DeSantis could not be reached for comment today before press time.
While only Fulton Street — Route 29A — is a state road, Piccola said the lines and crosswalks located on Main Street at the intersection with Fulton Street will also be repainted as the road at that point is considered a “pass through.”
“Even though it’s a village or city street, because it’s a pass through it’s still part of state highway system and we make sure anything through there is up to state standards,” Piccola said.
Piccola noted that the work will be performed by the state at no expense to the city and no work will be performed at any other locations on Main Street where all of the downtown crosswalks have been repainted maroon and white by the city.
“If that was done on city streets we would have no jurisdiction over that. It would only be the state highway where we have jurisdiction making sure crosswalks within the state highway are within state specifications,” Piccola said.
