Linking a city and its river
Approved resolution clears way for highway ramp to be turned into pedestrian walk
This little-used highway ramp off Interstate 787 is destined for grander things: The Albany Common Council approved a resolution on Monday that clears the way for its transformation into an elevated park connecting downtown Albany to the Hudson River. The city is expected to issue a request for bids on the Skyway project in the coming weeks.
Creation of an elevated park that would link downtown to the Hudson River crossed a major threshold Monday.
By a 13-to-1 vote, The Common Council approved a resolution that clears the way for construction to begin on the so-called Skyway project, which would turn a little-used highway ramp into a pedestrian walk.
The resolution approves an ownership-and-maintenance agreement with the state for the project. The city is expected to issue request for bids on the project in the coming weeks. At a briefing earlier this month, the city laid out what it expected to pay annually to maintain the structure.
The project will turn a little-used highway ramp from Interstate 787 into a linear park — complete with trees and grass — that would carry
pedestrians from the Clinton Square section of the city, near the Palace Theater, across the concrete and pavement barrier of Interstate 787 to Corning Preserve and the Hudson River.
The project will cover a half-mile of the loop. Where it merges with the much busier Clinton Avenue ramp, barriers will separate vehicles from pedestrians and cyclists.
The nearly $12 million project is being financed through a $5 million federal grant that requires a $1.2 million city match, $1.9 million from the city’s downtown revitalization funds that came as a state grant awarded in 2018 and a $3.1 million state Department of Transportation award.
The city will only be responsible for maintaining the surface structure of the elevated park. The state will continue to be responsible for the superstructure that supports it and the substructure.
That was a change from the original proposal, which would have required the city to take ownership of the entire structure, potentially leading to costly maintenance and repairs. Several
council members said Monday they believed the council’s questions over the years of potential issues around those costs gave the city a stronger negotiation position with the state.
At a briefing earlier this month, city officials told the council the city is selecting specific types of trees and grass that will work on an elevated surface and not require heavy maintenance. The park will be maintained by the city’s Department of General Services employees who handle the Corning Preserve and the city will hire one additional seasonal worker for that work at a cost of $14,500 per year.
Other costs include roughly $10,000 a year for quarterly inspections by a contractor and roughly $60,000 over 10 years in concrete repairs.
The city is also pushing the surrounding neighborhood to create a Friends of the Skyway nonprofit group to help maintain the park.
Councilman Derek Johnson was the lone no vote. Johnson has opposed the project for several years, arguing that the city is investing in people who might buy condos in redeveloped buildings in Clinton Square, rather than existing city residents in areas like the South End, which he represents.
Mayor Kathy Sheehan cheered the council’s vote, describing the Skyway “one of the most transformational projects in our city in decades.”
She praised Third
Ward Council member Joyce Love for backing the project, saying it will link residents from Arbor Hill, Clinton Square, and Sheridan Hollow — all traditionally underserved communities in the city — with the Hudson River.