Жители Нискайюны оспорили строительство тротуара у школы Бирчвуд, опасаясь ущерба деревьям и лишней нагрузки на пожилых

A car travels down Birchwood Lane in Niskayuna and a sign is placed in front of a tree by residents who are rallying against the placement of sidewalks on their side of the street, blocks down from Birchwood Elementary School, on Sept. 1. A car travels down Birchwood Lane in Niskayuna and a sign is placed in front of a tree by residents who are rallying against the placement of sidewalks on their side of the street, blocks down from Birchwood Elementary School, on Sept. 1. NISKAYUNA — A coalition of Niskayuna residents does not want a new sidewalk on Birchwood Lane. The sidewalks are meant to assist Birchwood Elementary School students, as the school sits right on Birchwood Lane. The town received $500,000 from the Department of Environmental Conservation at the start of the year for sidewalks at Birchwood and Hillside schools. Linda Freligh has lived in Niskayuna for 40 years and told the Town Board on Thursday that she has spoken and collected signatures of 34 people who live on or just off the half-mile stretch of road in the southeast corner of the town. They don’t want it, she said. “About 60% of the houses where you’re proposing the sidewalk on Birchwood, the people are 66 years or older, and the added care of the sidewalk is going to add duress,” she said. Freligh wasn't the only one coming to the meeting with data. William Chapman, chair of the Complete Streets Committee, said they spoke to 35 homeowners, and 30 had an opinion. Of those 30, 56% said they would like a sidewalk, and several of them had students at Birchwood. The DEC grant stipulates 5-foot-wide sidewalks and that the lack of sidewalks “discourages walking to school from the surrounding residential neighborhoods.” Students who live in the Birchwood neighborhood and don’t cross major roadways can walk home. Birchwood Lane is off State Route 7. If a student is going to walk home without a parent or guardian, they must have written permission from parents stating which days they will walk home. Students walking home with a parent or guardian do not need written permission. The school district is in the middle of a restructuring, and starting in the 2027-2028 school year, all elementary schools, including Birchwood, will have only kindergarten through fourth-graders. Fifth-graders will move to Van Antwerp with the sixth-graders. Other residents spoke against implementing a sidewalk. Wayne Haff’s grandchild is set to start at Birchwood this year, but he said the sidewalks are just “not necessary.” The design is too wide, at 5 feet, and could be reduced to a 3-foot ADA-compliant sidewalk with turnouts into driveways. “My brief conversations with some people is that there’s only been a couple of approved walkers; there isn’t that many,” he said. Mark Hoffman said the sidewalks will change the entire landscape of the neighborhood. His kids attended Birchwood, and he said he hadn’t heard of anyone having an issue getting where they needed to go . In his opinion, a school-zone change to drop the speed limit to 20 miles per hour would do that same thing for less money. The 20 miles per hour suggestion came from Chapman. However, Chapman spoke for the sidewalks and the speed limit change, adding that walkability within nature is a crucial part of having complete streets. “We have walked Birchwood Lane. I have done it myself, and there are homeowners out there who believe in having a sidewalk,” he said. “Having the sidewalk is helpful to kids to make it safe to walk. It’s not a cul-de-sac anymore.” Freligh said the sidewalk and required buffer would likely kill the three silver maples in the front of her house. The sidewalk's design will save as many trees as possible as well, Chapman said, noting that in other projects in the town they have fluctuated where the sidewalk went to prevent damage.