NYSDOT Commissioner Astrid Glynn announced on Monday that she will resign effective May 8, ending a tenure which began in February 2007 and was marked by progress on smart growth issues and the release of the state’s first comprehensive rail plan in over two decades. Deputy Commissioner Stanley Gee will serve as the department’s acting commissioner.

Glynn’s departure leaves one less smart-growth advocate in the state’s “stimulus cabinet.” Furthermore, the lack of a commissioner creates uncertainty over how capital funding will be spent if an MTA rescue plan is linked to an upstate road and bridge plan, as was reported in the NY Times.

Here are three ways a new commissioner can continue and expand the reform effort begun by Glynn:

Sustain the State’s Commitment to Smart Growth

Under Glynn, NYSDOT maintained a de facto fix-it-first philosophy in the downstate region. The few downstate expansion projects that existed were derailed because of the economy, and federal stimulus funding has so far gone to infrastructure repair instead of road widening. But Glynn did not make this official agency policy, as was done in New Jersey earlier in the decade (see MTR # 276).

Glynn also leaves behind several smart growth programs that are either unfinished or have not been institutionalized at NYSDOT. These include the GreenLITES program to rank the sustainability of projects; the SafeSeniors program, which could potentially fund pedestrian improvements in areas where many seniors are walking; and a website designed as a resource for local planners. Without renewed attention from Albany, these programs could easily be forgotten.

Bring Change to the Regional Offices

Translating these smart programs into action on the ground will require culture change in NYSDOT’s bureaucracy — specifically, at the regional offices which handle most projects. Glynn was beginning to make progress at Long Island’s Region 10, where engagement from local advocates and pressure from agency headquarters have caused the regional office to rethink the Rt. 347 widening plan and more closely consult with local communities.

But much more has to be done. Turning a large bureaucracy around isn’t easy, but two transportation departments have done it in recent years. During Jack Lettiere’s commissionership of NJDOT, the agency retrained hundreds of project engineers to take community context into account. And NYCDOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan created an entire planning and sustainability department staffed with a “dream team” of transportation advocates. In both cases, the results quickly became apparent, with more sustainable alternatives replacing car-first projects.

Continue to Advance the Tappan Zee Project

Glynn brought momentum to one of NYSDOT’s most visible projects — replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge and bringing transit to the 30-mile I-287 corridor between Suffern and Port Chester. Last year, Glynn announced that NYSDOT would replace the bridge and construct a full-corridor bus rapid transit system and commuter rail line connecting Rockland County to Manhattan. But many elements of the transit planning are not settled. In the current (DEIS) phase of the project, the study team is looking at four bus options ranging from a full-corridor separated busway to a combination of high-occupancy toll lanes and on-street bus lanes.

While the Tappan Zee project is behind schedule, during Glynn’s tenure it made tangible progress and had a reasonable level of public involvement. The project can still improve in those areas, but most important is that NYSDOT establishes a clear connection between transit and land use in the Hudson Valley. The study team has enlisted nonprofit consultants to conduct transit-oriented development outreach with the local communities, but it’s not clear how extensive that outreach will be.