The future of the stretch of Interstate 787 in Albany remains under discussion.
The evolving initiative to "reimagine 787," the corridor of interstate highway that separates Albany and the Hudson River, was discussed at the Capital Region Transportation Council's June meeting.
Co-project manager Greg Wichser with the state Department of Transportation says the original design had 787 connecting with other arterials, some which were to have gone underground, but the bigger plans never saw the light of day. He shared some findings from the study launched last summer as part of the reimagining process, which garnered more than a thousand public comments that highlighted the desire for better waterfront access and the economic development that would come with it.
Among suggestions: reconstructing the highways and relocating the Dunn Memorial Bridge to the south of its current location.
"By replacing the Dunn Memorial with in this option a single point urban interchange, this would collapse the stack into a single plane, still elevated, but much lower. Which then leads to the South Mall expressway could run downhill and touch down at grade at Pearl Street and become a boulevard for two city blocks between Pearl Street and the Empire Plaza," Wichser said.
Several "boulevard" concepts were advanced, including one that would make Broadway a one-way street and another that would remove railroad tracks from the 787 corridor.
"This is the probably most challenging item to implement based on their existing footprint, their right of way and their operations," said Wichser. "The railroad has indicated they do not want to move, because the route they have now is very functionally beneficial to their to their network, and even in the theory of building them an entire track back to their own system in Schenectady is still an impediment and a highly undesirable outcome for the railroad, never mind the expense and effort to construct a parallel track all the way."
Another boulevard concept would move the Dunn Bridge one mile to the south with ramps to Albany emptying into the port and industrial areas of the city, avoiding the South End neighborhood.
Wicsher says plans are under consideration that would tackle traffic flow problems and changing travel times for motorists. The most drastic would see a 5-6 minute increase.
The idea of building a tunnel comes with financial challenges.
"The tunnel is very expensive, regardless of the feasibility of water tables and resources you'd impact," said Wichser. "If it only is going to take 20% of the traffic off the system, then you still need a whole surface street network to handle the 80% of the traffic that is going to both cities on each side of the river at this point, and never mind a 7 billion plus cost estimate. So then the next concept that is very popular and common is to create land bridges. If we can't eliminate the railroad from the corridor and you have to get across it somehow in a separated grade. Regardless, these land bridges are very wide pedestrian bridges that can feel more like a park than a bridge. These could gain some traction to get pedestrians across traffic with zero interaction with, you know, vehicles, whether it's at a signal or not."
Wicsher says the notion of creating a canal along Broadway would likely require constructing two locks, one at each end.
Mayor Mike Stammel wants any 787 reimagination effort to enhance the city of Rensselaer.
"I think we would have to talk to CDTA a little bit about access to the train station and some changes on that route off of 9J into the train station to change their parking around a little bit. But I think my biggest concern right now is with the bridge, though, the closer to water, I think the better it will be for visual to see the city of Albany and for the city of Albany to see Rensselaer, without, without the higher ramps and all that other stuff," Stammel said.
Proposals to reimagine 787 are being examined both from an engineering and a cost standpoint. The next open house to discuss the matter is July 10th at the First Church of Albany from 4 to 6 p.m.
