In a busy area for Capital Region traffic, Colonie officials have opened a new connector road between Routes 9 and 9R.
The new “Coliseum Drive” runs through the site of the former Starlite Theatre in Latham, starting opposite Autopark Drive on Route 9 and ending with the Johnson Road intersection on Route 9R. Colonie Town Supervisor Paula Mahan says the town planning commission first suggested the connector road to alleviate traffic between the two routes.
“This was planned many years ago, it had to be 20-30 years ago," notes Mahan. "The funding for it was something that the town could not afford back then…and so we’re hoping that it’s going to do the job that it was intended to do, we think it will, it’s definitely gonna help. And it’s just gonna make things a lot easier for travelers in this particular area.”
Mahan, a Democrat, says the road cost about $7 million – so not exactly something the town could afford today either – but she says it comes at no cost to taxpayers. According to Mahan, it was made possible by mitigation funds and an ongoing project with the Galesi Group, which began developing a new headquarters for financial services firm Ayco at the site in 2018.
“Without them, we couldn’t have this road," Mahan explains. "That was one of the things that was a priority – if you’re going to build here, can you build the road as well?”
Until now, the home of the former Starlite Theatre has been largely vacant. Once known as the Colonie Tent and earlier as the Colonie Coliseum (hence the name of the new road), the Starlite opened in 1958 and hosted acts like Diana Ross, The Beach Boys, and Kenny Rogers until closing in 1998. It was ultimately torn down in 2012. Mahan credits the redevelopment with helping to revive the surrounding community.
“When people start to improve and update old sites that are either abandoned or underutilized, then you often see others start to improve their areas as well," she says. "So to have companies come in and want to invest in our town, is great for us because our focus has been on redevelopment of old sites.”
The Galesi Group says it is planning additional office and retail spaces for the Starlite site, and Ayco plans to start consolidating its other Capital Region offices for the new headquarters in spring 2020. At the time of the project’s groundbreaking, the Galesi Group said the 150,000-square-foot building could host over 1,000 employees by 2021. Group Vice President Paul Fallati says the new road demonstrates the group’s commitment to Colonie.
“We’re proud that Ayco made this their headquarters, there’s gonna be a lot of employees here, and this new road’s really gonna help the residents of the town of Colonie with flow traffic through here," says Fallati. "As the Route 9 corridor is getting busier and busier, this is gonna serve as a great access point to get to other routes within the town.”
A new traffic light has been installed at the Autopark Drive intersection, and the Johnson Road connection has new signals, streetlights, and crosswalks.
