This week the New York State Department of Transportation released the findings of its study to reimagine the Interstate 787 Corridor.
Change will come to the 9-mile I-787... eventually. Tuesday's release of the Planning and Environmental Linkages study paves the way for commencement of a two-year environmental review process to determine viable future projects aimed at reconnecting the city of Albany with its Hudson River waterfront.
While the idea of building a tunnel has been set aside, the study features five plans for re-imagining the highway. Two designs call for reconstructing the existing highway and replacing the Dunn Memorial Bridge with a more bike-and-pedestrian-friendly structure. Three others would give the part of 787 that runs through the city a "boulevard treatment."
Greg Wichser is with the state Department of Transportation. "By replacing the Dunn Memorial with this option a single point urban interchange, this would collapse the stack into a single plane, still elevated, 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," Wischer said.
All five plans call for easy Hudson riverfront access.
Senator Pat Fahy has led a more than decade-long crusade to reclaim the waterfront and reconnect communities with the Hudson River. The Democrat representing the 46th district says it’s been an uphill battle dating to her earliest days as a state Assemblymember.
"As somebody who was from Chicago, it was stunning to see a city of 99,000 have such massive spaghetti loops of highways, and dozens of ramps, and more, and then reading the history," said Fahy. "So I began to think that you can reimagine it. I was really studying some things that were going on in other states and cities. And, you know, just thought, we can do better you can convert some of this, this is such an underused highway, especially the access roads, and a number of the ramps. So the more I began to look into it, I think I wrote my first opinion piece on this in 2019, before the pandemic, and said, we need to really reevaluate because I've also studied so much about the Hudson River, and it is the mighty Hudson, it is the single greatest natural resource in Albany in the Capital Region. And we've cut ourselves off from that river with the highway," said Fahy.
Governor Kathy Hochul provided up to $40 million in the fiscal year 2026 state budget as part of her unprecedented $400 million investment to revitalize downtown Albany.
At an event in Albany Wednesday that brought together residents, academics, government leaders and others for a brainstorming session about how to best reimagine Albany’s future, Hochul said she envisions transformative changes to the aging highway.
"Talk about reimagining nine miles of that waterfront and connecting the people of this great city to that magnificent body known as the Hudson River, and we're going to get it done. Multi-billion dollar project with the 787 will also be reimagined. And looking at the Livingston Avenue Bridge right there as well," said Hochul.
Cost estimates for remaking 787 range from $2.8 billion to $6 billion.
With construction estimated to take up to nine years, DOT stresses that public and stakeholder engagement will continue.
