In a letter dated January 2, 2024, the New York State Department of Transportation advised Saratoga Springs Mayor John Safford that the previous Council superseded its authority when it altered the weight limit for trucks on Van Dam Street. As the letter above documents, Van Dam Street is a designated “access highway” by DOT and, as such, is not subject to local control over its truck use.
This is yet another example of the previous Council’s obliviousness to the need for rigorous due diligence. In their rush to endear themselves to the homeowners on Van Dam Street and grab headlines, the Council did the neighborhood a disservice by spreading false hopes.
Even before this DOT letter, former Public Safety Commissioner Lew Benton knew enough to question the city’s authority in this matter and to contact NYSDOT, which confirmed his skepticism.
Bill McTygue and Mark Pingel Grab Headlines With More False Hopes
Planning Board members Bill McTygue and Mark Pingel issued a report in December suggesting an old proposal to construct a truck bypass route through the southern border of the State Park should be revisited.
The first reference I can find to such a proposal was in a report prepared for the New York State Department of Transportation in 1987. The study concluded that a southern bypass would “impact adjacent parklands…to a degree which will be difficult to successfully mitigate” and “…have significant impacts on recreational, historic, and natural resources.” In addition to requiring cutting through extensive wetlands in the Park, the study also concluded that while “various bypass roadway alternatives have been the subject of considerable discussion in the community and were examined closely in the study…they were found to be partial solutions at best…..None would divert sufficient traffic from Broadway…”
Over the years, other Councils have made similar forays to the state, but all such efforts have proved futile.
Such a bypass would be an enormous construction project involving huge sums of money, and the permits for major disturbances of wetlands would encounter fierce resistance from a variety of parties, assuming that the state was even interested.
Readers, this is never going to happen.
Saratoga Springs Politics 
I think many people saw this coming like a big rig. Pun intended.
This needs to be addressed by TV stations and by the all media platforms. This is a beyond the community issue. It is a statewide and even countrywide issue. The previous administration making false promises to a neighborhood while lying to the entire community in the process doesn’t surprise me. Bill McTygue circling up the wagons for ousted Mayor Kim is also not a shocker. Allowing the neighborhood to believe the lies as truths and then purposely leaving the mess for the next administration to clean up is utterly irresponsible.
Ron Kim, now grownups have to correct your “do it now and ask forgiveness later actions.” The only problem is you will never ask for forgiveness for your actions or apologize to those you lied to. Especially those who publicly endured routine behavior which could be considered slandered. You should have apologized to Dr. Chris Mathiesen. There is still time.
I hope the neighbors will understand the truth from the State. It was actually presented before the previous administration did what they wanted. Ron Kim also lied in front of the children of the neighbors who trusted him.
You don’t even have to believe this blog. Read the letter, listen to the meetings where the correct information was provided, visit some websites, or call the DOT. All of which can provide the truth.
Ron Kim, along with the members of the previous administration and his crony Bill McTygue, created this problem. Moran, Sangvhi, and Golub now need to do what the State says. Next time follow the rules the first time.
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again, not to belabor my earlier point in this space, a by pass to Grande Industrial Park is already in place and only
needs signage form the Northway and perhaps a revised improved intersection at Rte 9 and Malta Ave. All the roads are either County Routes or State Rtes. Previously, former commissioner Mathiasen replied that the affected
towns would not allow this bypass to happen. The fact is they have no jurisdiction in the matter. None of their roads are included. Their only recourse would be through the County Board of Supervisors to try to post Malta
Ave. and Northline Rd. Now this is where our 2 supervisors on the board would need to step up and in to ensure
the bypass is established. we don’t need new roads,or expensive,expansive projects. We need some common sense and cooperation with our NYSDOT Residency to solve this issue and the Van Dam St. situation. Unfortunately for those residents, Van Dam is the most logical truck route east-west through the city.
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If the previous City Council had a capable City Attorney and listened to the attorney’s advice, they would have known that imposing a weight limit on Van Dam Street was beyond the City’s authority. Three members (Kim, Montagnino, and Golub) of the previous council are lawyers. Maybe they relied on their own legal judgment instead of listening to the City Attorney, but all lawyers are supposed to remember Abraham Lincoln’s famous observation that “Any lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.”
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One thing to say about Bill McTygue. He is consistent. Once he has a plan in mind, no matter how ill-conceived, he holds onto it and brings it back every few years.
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Okay, weight restrictions on roads are based on road engineering. Is a section of Van Dam limited because of a structural issue? Is there weathering of soil and rock under the road? Is the pavement not thick enough?
If there is no reason to access restrict the road based upon its physical condition, I guess the city should not have put the sign up. If there is an engineering issue, the road needs to be repaired or the city needs to remove it as an access highway through the procedures mentioned in the State’s letter.
A more worrisome trend is this legal tension between different echelons of government. For example, I was surprised during the pandemic that more municipalities did not take steps to restrict access to prevent the spread of contagion. While in hindsight, COVID-19 was less than 1% lethal, I would think that subsequent planning for a future pandemic would allow municipalities to implement emergency measures, to include self-quarantine. It is kind of like sealing compartments in a submarine after a torpedo hit – you don’t wait for the fleet commander to manage your damage control.
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The most absurd aspect of the City Council’s December 5 action to immediately have Van Dam Street posted with a 5 ton limit was the glaring contradiction with the existing temporary Route 29 detour. Signs for the temporary Route 29 truck detour were put up months ago due to the Bonacio construction project on lower Washington Street. When the 5 ton weight limit signs went up on Van Dam in mid December, trucks were suddenly confronted with two road signs that completely contradicted each other. The Council created a potentially dangerous situation. The confusion for drivers of the large trucks approaching Van Dam could have resulted in a serious accident. The City could have been liable. Thankfully, NYS DOT has now intervened.
When I contacted NYS DOT on the day after the Council took action to impose the 5 ton Van Dam Street weight limit, the engineer to whom I spoke was quite surprised to hear about it. Apparently, no one from the City had bothered to get input from DOT. In addition, that person confirmed that Van Dam Street had been classified as a Designated Access Highway since the early 1990’s. He was aware that I had written to NYS DOT twice while I was Commissioner of Public Safety to inquire about having Route 29 truck traffic re-routed from Washington Street to a route including West Avenue, Church Street and Van Dam Street but he was also aware that no such changes were ever formalized during my term. Washington Street has continued to the recognized route for Route 29 truck traffic until the recent temporary truck detour, though many trucks continue to use the Church Street/Van Dam Street corridor option.
Ironically, Mayor Kim repeatedly accused me of acting in a ‘criminal’ and ‘illegal’ manner regarding Van Dam truck traffic. He never quite explained what the ‘criminal’, ‘illegal’ action was that I supposedly took. The NYS DOT has determined that it was the Ron Kim Council that approved an action on December 5 now considered to be ‘invalid’.
Chris Mathiesen
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