The workshops were well-attended, with representatives of roughly 20 villages and six towns participating. Most of the municipalities appeared to have concrete project pedestrian safety ideas already in mind.

Project eligibility is oriented much more toward traffic calming capital projects than to public education efforts designed to reduce pedestrian injuries and fatalities.

DOT said it would likely issue a request for expressions of interest in September or October, with a 2-3 month deadline for submission of municipal proposals. Interested local governments should contact David Glass at NYS DOT, 631-952-6128. The Tri-State Campaign will assist civic groups who would like to contact their municipal leaders about participating in the program. Call 516-719-9330 or 212-268-7474.

In recent meetings about the "LITP 2000" study (MTR #273), DOT officials also said a Nassau-Suffolk bike-pedestrian master plan would get underway during the next year.