Residents of Troy are weighing in on a major infrastructure project along Route 2.
Discussed for years, the Congress and Ferry Streets’ corridor improvement project aims to widen the roadways and enhance gutters, drainage, and landscaping.
The project begins at the Congress Street Bridge and would extend east to 11th Street.
Three alternatives have been proposed for the corridor: one-way buffered bicycle lanes, two-way buffered bicycles lanes, and a road diet on Congress and Ferry Streets. Each alternative has some similarities, but includes element changes, largely meant to accommodate bicyclists.
First-term Republican Mayor Carmella Mantello says now is the time to get the nearly $9.8 million project moving.
“It's an exciting time,” Mantello said. “And what I'm hearing from folks tonight, it sounds like they're semi-leaning toward 1A, which is not the two-way traffic bike lane, but the one-way bike lane, and then obviously all the walkability and the connection, the tunnel, etc. So, but for me, it's just so exciting. It's transformational.”
She adds that improvements to the functionality of the corridor will allow for economic growth.
“Connecting our waterfront, revitalizing our neighborhoods, and really making this area more walkable, which will entice more business investment and really make the biking, the walking and connecting all of that waterfront and turning into the pearl that I talk about along our waterfront,” Mantello said.
80 percent of funding for the project is federal and 20 percent comes from the city.
Project manager Chris Geroux with engineering firm Creighton Manning says sidewalks throughout the corridor are not ADA compliant and improvements to drainage, intersections, and biking accommodations are needed to make the area safer and more accessible.
“Project objectives, the main one is to provide increased mobility for all users throughout the corridor. So busy corridor, so that's the biggest task that we've had with all the alternatives. And I'll get into each one of those different users, and how we try to meet those demands for each one of the alternatives. Congress and Ferry, for the most part, is a complete streets project,” Geroux said. “That means we're trying to address sidewalks, curb ramps, curb extensions, bicycle accommodations. We're trying to fit all users on those two streets.”
Currently, bicyclists share the road with vehicular traffic and pedestrian access is lacking. Geroux says the current arrangement of the Congress Street Bridge interchange tends to misdirect northbound traffic on River Street to Front Street as a way to access downtown.
A former commissioner on the recently abolished planning commission, James Rath, says he was involved in the project’s initial design and that in recent years, transparency over the project’s progress became subpar. He says there hadn’t been a public meeting on the project since 2018.
Rath, also the co-founder and executive director of Capital Streets, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the region’s transportation system, warned the Troy city council against prematurely bonding without public input earlier this year. The legislation, which would have authorized the use of an additional $1.3 million in serial bonds for the final design and engineering for the reconstruction of infrastructure along the corridor, was pulled from the agenda at a later meeting. Rath says he still has concerns.
“One of the biggest things is protected infrastructure for cyclists. That's really the biggest thing. If you want people to ride their bike, to work, to school, bring their kids on it, get to the bar, get to the grocery store, get to a restaurant, it needs to be protected," Rath said. "That's what takes changes things for people who aren't riding their bike right now, which right now, not a lot of people feel safe riding their bike. So, to just slap on some striping and say, you know, this is the preferred concept, isn't gonna generate that mode shift.”
Disruptions would include temporary shoulder and lane closures and staged construction on the intersection. Businesses, residents, and schools would be notified prior to the start of construction, but access to businesses and residential areas would remain open.
Additional improvements would be made to the Ferry Street tunnel that runs underneath the Russell Sage campus. The tunnel has deteriorated because of a lack of waterproofing. Enhancements would include new lighting, waterproofing, and noise reduction measures.
The project would be done in conjunction with the redevelopment of Taylor Apartments, a major public housing project along the Hudson River waterfront. The project is currently in phase one and will soon move into phase two.
Council President Sue Steele, a Democrat, says she’s glad to see the project moving forward.
“There's only so much you can do with the configuration that we have,” Steele said. “Very happy to see work planned for the tunnel, though, that is a definite problem. You know, I wish we could know more about the bridge, because that would really inform planning going forward. I mean, it would, I think it would make the project more seamless, but we have to rely on the funding as it comes in.”
Only about half of the roughly $6 million needed for repairs to the Congress Street Bridge is available. The cities of Troy and Watervliet are working together to secure the funding.
Construction is expected to begin in the spring and be completed by summer 2026.
More information about the project can be found here.
