Syracuse Transportation Committee Meeting - March 17, 2026: Regional Transportation Center and Market Area Mobility Improvements
Syracuse Transportation Committee Meeting - March 17, 2026
On March 17, 2026, the Syracuse Common Council's Transportation Committee, joined by Council President Rita Paniagua, Second District Councilor Donna Moore, and Councilor Aaron Reich, convened to discuss the Regional Transportation Center and Regional Market Area Mobility Improvements Project. The meeting focused on preliminary design plans, public input, and next steps for a $3.5 million streetscape project aimed at improving pedestrian and bicyclist safety along Park Street, Hiawatha Boulevard, MVP Parkway, and Taxamone Drive.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Sean Meyer, a resident of 1504 Park Street and neighborhood activist with the Washington Square neighborhood watch and task force, expressed concern that the project does not include a crosswalk across Park Street near Hiawatha Boulevard. He noted that New Americans and residents without cars rely on walking to the Regional Market and NBT Bank Stadium, and described three pedestrian deaths in the last three years. He urged the city to install a simple crosswalk and sidewalk to connect existing paths to the market entrance. He also criticized the lack of community outreach, stating neighbors were surprised to learn of the project from the newspaper.
Discussion Items
- Mirza Malkoch, from the engineering department, presented the project overview. The project is in preliminary design, with $3.5 million in federal and state funds. The preliminary phase is expected to complete in one to two months, followed by detailed design, with construction likely starting in spring 2027 (subject to state DOT delays). Public comments are due by Friday, March 21, 2026, and can be submitted via the city website.
- Project scope: The improvements cover Park Street from Hiawatha Boulevard to MVP Parkway, MVP Parkway from Park Street to Taxamone Drive, Taxamone Drive from MVP Parkway to Hiawatha Boulevard, and Hiawatha Boulevard from Taxamone Drive to Park Street. The project includes:
- Installation of an 8-foot-wide shared-use path (expanding to 10 feet where right-of-way allows) along Park Street.
- New crosswalks, curb ramps, and push buttons at all corners.
- A mid-block crossing near the Regional Transportation Center.
- Traffic calming on Taxamone Drive.
- A refuge island with flashing beacons at the Farmers Market and MVP Parkway intersection.
- Sidewalk repairs and new 5-foot sidewalks where space is limited.
- No vehicular improvements allowed under the funding source (TAP project).
- Councilor concerns:
- Councilor Paniagua asked about crosswalk placement at Carbon Street and Hiawatha Boulevard; Malkoch noted that a traffic light there is not funded or allowed under TAP, but flashing beacons may be added during design.
- Councilor Moore raised questions about snow removal, green infrastructure, and snow storage. Malkoch agreed to coordinate with DPW and Parks Department on tree planting and snow management.
- Councilor Reich commended the public engagement efforts and noted the need for bike racks and bus shelters. Malkoch said these would be evaluated during design.
- Byrnderi store proposal: Mentioned as a potential new development near Park Street and MVP Parkway, which could increase traffic and driveways. Malkoch stated the city would evaluate any submitted plans before construction.
- Public meeting feedback: Malkoch reported that some attendees requested improvements to the Hiawatha Boulevard and Park Street intersection (e.g., roundabouts), but these are not feasible due to funding constraints and DOT standards.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; the committee received the presentation and public comment.
- The public comment period remains open until Friday, March 21, 2026. Comments can be submitted via the city's project website.
- The engineering department will email copies of the plans to council members.
- The project will proceed to detailed design, with coordination with DPW, Parks Department, and other agencies on snow removal, green infrastructure, and street furniture.
- The meeting was adjourned by motion.
Meeting Transcript
Transportation committee meeting. I'm joined by Common Council President Rita Paniagua and Second District Councilor Donna Moore. We're here to discuss uh the regional transportation center and regional market area mobility improvements project. Um we have if you like to introduce yourself. Uh good morning, counselors. My name is Mirza Malkoch. I work for the engineering department. Okay. So this project, and we have talked about this for almost 20 years, is uh is a north side leader and others spoken for the need for a greater need for mobility among uh people in our district, those who are not vehicles, those who have uh trying to cross Hiawatha Boulevard, uh to go to the regional market, NBT Bank Stadium, the regional transportation center. We do have a crisis people walking park street trying to cross to go to destiny. Uh our area does lack sidewalks and safety. So we want to put people where they're um they were gonna be safe crossing crossing the street. It's a major high highway traffic, Park Street, highway, I was the boulevard. So I'm gonna let you um discuss just before I want to welcome Councillor Aaron Reich to our meeting too. So Mirza, if you'd like to start. Sure. Thank you. Well, um, so this been this we're right now in preliminary stage of the RTC regional market area mobility improvement project. Um preliminary stage means like we're just evaluating different designs, um, meeting with um business owners and with the public. That's why we had the public input meeting two weeks ago uh on the fifth. Um this project we have about three point five million dollars um funds from the federal government and from the state. Um preliminary stage is should be completed in maybe in a month to two months. Then we're gonna go into detailed design phase. And construction should start sometimes in uh spring of 2027. That's just a rough estimate. It might be who knows, with uh delays and everything. It could be even late 2027. We don't know exactly. So I'm gonna do that. I just gonna give you a brief okay summary of this um the schedule. Um I can go over the project. So if you have any questions regarding the schedule, anything like that, let me know, and then we'll go from there. Okay, and also did you have c uh copies of this? I do have copies for myself. I can email it to you. We have a website as well where people can look at the plans. Um and look at the descriptions, the project objectives, improvements, and then you can also leave comments. Okay, so if you can email copies to the common counselors, so that would be important. Okay. Okay. And I just want to say that the deadline to submit comments is this Friday. Okay. Yeah, because you we had there was a meeting which I was not notified of uh a couple weeks ago, the regional market. And um, but besides that, uh you had said what kind of the what kind of delays you think we're gonna have. Well, the delays it could be because everyone is short staffed, not on our end, but you know, DOT is lately um delaying some of our projects. This is state DOT. Yep. So um, I can't promise you if it's gonna start in spring or summer or fall or even next year. I don't know. Okay.
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