Planners are seeking input from the public on the proposed design of two key gateway connections between the riverfront, downtown Albany, and the city’s warehouse district.
The first of two public meetings regarding the Hudson River Waterfront Gateways Project, now in its early planning stages, was held virtually last week. The project area is located at two main waterfront gateways: the Northern at the intersections of Colonie and Quay Streets, and the Southern at Broadway and Quay Street. Proposed improvements are intended to provide visitors with clear direction to the riverfront and its recreational assets from downtown.
Attendees were polled at different times during the interactive session, asked to share their observations, experiences and suggestions as to how the gateway areas (which some labeled "unattractive utilitarian") could be spruced up and put to good use.
In chat, several participants said they favored abundant lighting, landscaping, playgrounds, walkways and public spaces where people can safely gather, and perhaps an area where movies could be screened outdoors, while others said they experienced some areas as lonely places in barren industrial neighborhoods that "feel unsafe." Nancy Raca with Rochester-based Highland Planning, tasked with "public engagement," shared some of the ideas submitted online for the Northern Gateway.
“Someone suggests that a 2,000-3,000 person music venue would be great and also an active boating site," said Raca. "And that it needs signage, especially historic signage about the significance of the area. [It is] Important as the eastern end of the statewide Erie Canalway Trail, and could be a much more welcoming venue for Alive at Five concerts.”
Chris Carter is an engineer with the Albany office of Stantec, a global professional services company acting as design consultant for what is being called a "short-term" project. He envisions a different treatment for the Southern Gateway.
“There's a nice island in the center of the intersection, that island has some potential," said Carter. "You can actually see that island from several blocks north if you're looking down this direction. So that has some potential to maybe feature some sort of installation or focal point to kind of draw people down here and let them know that there's waterfront access.”
Carter says improvements may include lighting displays, landscaping, pedestrian and bicycle amenities, and interpretive and/or wayfinding signage.
Carter reassured participants who wondered whether the anticipated eventual demise of Interstate 787 would impact the gateways.
“Just the feasibility study for 787 is a three-year process through 2026,' Carter said. "So it's probably a safe bet to think not anything, so you're probably not gonna see a significant change with that, I would think, for at least on the order of 10 years. Maybe it'll be magically sooner than that, but 10 years is probably a conservative foresight for that, or longer. Those projects take a lot of time. So we have an opportunity here to make things much nicer for, you know, the better part of a decade or more so.”
Carter says funding for the project comes through the New York State Department of State's Local Waterfront Revitalization Programunder Title 11 of the Environmental Protection Fund.
"And that gives us construction budget for this portion of the project of $250,000 to $300,000," said Carter. "So right now, this is a fairly small scale project and it's a it's we consider it an initial investment in these gateways.”
Carter pointed out that all of the comments participants typed in the chatbox were captured and will be taken into consideration by the design team.
Carter says concepts developed stemming from the session will be revealed during a second interactive public meeting to be held over the summer. No date has been set.
