ELMIRA, N.Y. (WENY) -- The Chemung County Planning Department (CCPD) and the Elmira-Chemung Transportation Council (ECTC) are teaming up to host a public meeting later this month.

On August 21st from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., Elmira community members can go to the Steele Memorial Library for a 'Listening Session and Community Focus Group', to address their concerns with Clemens Center Parkway.

"We want to hear from the community on what they think the benefits are of having Clemens Center Parkway, the potential risks around Clemens Center Parkway, opportunities for the future, and any challenges in regard to if we shouldn't do anything with the Clemens Center Parkway," said Grants Manager for the CCPD, Emily Marino.

The objective of the public meeting would be to 'promote multi-modal transportation options, enhancing public safety and fostering a sense of community.' People who attend will be able to express their ideas for improvements, their experiences, concerns, and hopes for the parkway.

"We think there may be some opportunities to improve upon the existing parkway [and] it might not be the most pedestrian and bicyclist friendly thoroughfare, but we need to find that out, and that’s why we’re applying for a grant and speaking to the community," said Marino.

Once feedback is collected from the meeting, it will be used to apply for a grant. The community's input could shape the 'pre-planning framework and priorities around the future of Clemens Center Parkway.'

"This all has to go through the Chemung County legislature as well, but we would be potentially going after a grant through the Reconnecting Communities Program from the U.S. DOT in the amount of $200,000. This would pay for the planning study, and then the results from that planning study would inform how we would go about completing the actual implementation of the project which would be a more significant investment," said Marino.

The grant would take anywhere from nine to 12 months to see if Chemung County would be awarded the grant.

According to the Deputy Director with the ECTC Mike Perry said the Parkway was built to get coal trucks off the city streets of Elmira. Now that bigger trucks aren't really using Clemens Center Parkway, Perry said we've got to look at ways to make the Parkway more pedestrian and bicycle friendly.

In the past, community members have voiced their concerns about having a highway run through town, and how they want the speed limit reduced. However, Elmira city officials don't have the power to reduce the speed limit because it's a state-owned road. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) would be the agency that could change it.

"That speed limit is designed to carry traffic as quickly and as efficiently as possible. To knock it down to 30 miles an hour like the village speed limits are throughout New York State, that’s not something that can easily be done because it goes against the purpose of what the arterial (Parkway) was designed to do," said Perry.

Perry said he's open to looking at changing the timing of crosswalks, and more opportunities on how the ECTC can make Clemens Center Parkway safer.

"We were in talks with NYSDOT in January of 2022. We met with the Regional Director [and] from our long-range plan, we wanted to document that there’s some public outcry, [and] that we need to do something with the Clemens Center Parkway," said Perry.

Perry said he and his team knew they had to take action when Seth Truax was struck and killed on Clemens Center Parkway in April.

"Within our office when Seth died, we said 'here we go again. Here’s another death on the Parkway. Is there something we can do about this?' These [fatal pedestrian accidents] are terrible... [and] when you see a young life [taken] it really hits close to home. When you see a young person, 22-years-old [and] dying...There's got to be something we can do to prevent this," said Perry.