GUILDERLAND — At a public meeting attended by roughly two dozen people — half of whom were residents — consultants discussed potential plans for the future of Westmere.

Residents spoke about the dangers of cycling on Route 20, about the recent loss of trees, and about the difficulty of navigating during rush hour.

A $52,000 grant from the Capital District Transportation Committee and $18,000 from the town of Guilderland are funding a study to develop a strategic neighborhood plan for the Westmere Corridor, which runs from the bottom of Fuller Road, up Western Avenue to Route 155.

A preliminary assessment of the area was presented at the meeting, which was meant to allow residents and business owners to voice current concerns they have with Westmere and make suggestions for improvements they hope to see in the coming years.

Martin Hull, a representative from IBI Group of Albany, the lead consultant on the project, said the main goals of the study are to find ways to connect residential areas with commercial areas; protect adjoining areas from incompatible land use; improve facilities for cyclists and pedestrians; and install sidewalks on side streets.

Concrete plans, said Hull, include discouraging new large-scale retail development and encouraging small business development; improving the Crossgates Ring Road; enhance transit services; expanding footpaths and trails; and defining gateways and signage.

For the purposes of the study, the consultants divided the corridor into three segments — from the New York Thruway overpass to Johnston Road, which mainly includes large-scale strip development; from Johnston Road to York Road, which includes small lots, small businesses, and houses; and from York Road to Karner Road, which includes large-scale commercial lots and multi-family housing.

The first segment, according to Hull’s presentation, contains vacant or under-used lots with a high potential for infill.

The third segment contains an unusual number of apartment buildings.

“Having so many multi-family residences within such a small geographic area is unique,” said Hull.

He spoke of Western Avenue as a mainly automobile-oriented streetscape with narrow sidewalks, frequent driveways, and inconsistent building fronts, but, he said, there are more than 1,000 residential parcels within one-quarter mile — walking distance — of the main thoroughfare.

The major destinations are all commercial retail, including Crossgates Mall, Towne Center Plaza, Westmere Plaza, Star Plaza, and Hamilton Square.

Most of the residences were built between the 1950s and the 1990s and are considered to be in “stable” condition.

The first resident to speak at the public meeting said the New York State Department of Transportation’s sidewalk project involved tree removal, which, she said, drastically changed the feel of the corridor.

Hull said the study would definitely focus on adding trees along Western Avenue, in part because driving past a line of trees makes people feel as though they are driving faster than they really are, and forces them to slow down.

Two residents said they would like to be able to bicycle to do errands on Western Avenue, but one said she was intimidated by riding on the thoroughfare, and would make her route much longer than it had to be by taking side roads that eventually led her to her destination.

Another said he would not ride on Western because it would be “death defying.”

Hull said there are currently no designated bike lanes within the corridor.

Another resident said he liked the idea of “cluster shopping,” and wanted to know if the study could examine ways to connect some of the independent businesses to each other, so people could park in one spot and walk from place to place.

Several residents expressed concerns with the traffic patterns on Western Avenue during rush hour, particularly with turning out of side streets or pulling out of driveways.

One resident requested that “smart lights” or “adaptive signals” be considered as an option for some of the busier intersections in the corridor. The signals can adjust to real-time traffic conditions.

The presentation showed that half of the car accidents that occurred in the corridor between 2011 and 2013 were in the one-third mile stretch between the Thruway and Crossgates Mall Road, and another 10 percent were at the intersection of Western Avenue and New Karner Road. The remaining 40 percent were concentrated at other intersections.

At the end of the meeting, one resident questioned who was “driving the bus” on the study and the potential future projects, clarifying that he wanted to know who would be taking the lead on implementing the findings of the study.

Hull said the town was in the driver’s seat, accompanied by the CDTC, but emphasized that the purpose of the study was only to envision what is possible in the future, not to immediately enact the changes.

The town’s grant writer, Donald Csaposs, said earlier this month, “Of course some of the things would be impossible to achieve.”

Having the study in place, though, said Hull, would give the town a better opportunity to receive funding for the projects.

The timeline for the study includes composing a draft of the neighborhood plan based on the input from last week’s meeting, holding a second public meeting in the fall, and composing the final draft.

The study is expected to be complete by the end of 2015.