In Albany, a missed opportunity to create ‘complete streets’

Manning Boulevard is a key mid-city belt through the heart of Albany’s uptown. Unlike other cross-town routes, it is a wide boulevard, and the stretch between Western and Washington avenues is flanked on both sides by pedestrian-scale bridle paths, the remnants of an incomplete 1870s plan to build a park-like ring of boulevards that would encircle the city.

The city is scheduled to improve the residential street this summer, including muchneeded repaving, sidewalk repairs and flood mitigation. But when it comes to Complete Streets design, the Manning Boulevard plans are a missed opportunity.

In 2013, Albany adopted a Complete Streets policy aimed to ensure safe and comfortable street access for all road users — pedestrians, cyclists, cars and mass transit. Then, in 2021, the city published its first Albany Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan with the aim of creating cohesive and safe walking and biking networks.

These plans are supposed to inform street resurfacing and stand-alone active transportation projects. And key connective corridors like Manning, with a wide right-of-way, should be posterchildren for meaningful compliance with the spirit and letter of Complete Streets.

But aside from repainting crosswalks at intersections, the city has failed to include many of its own Complete Streets design guidelines in the plans for Manning.

A few examples:

• Cyclists will be directed onto the bridle paths, but those paths don’t have direct connections to Washington or Western avenues, meaning bike riders will have to rejoin traffic. • A planned right turn lane near Western could prompt impatient drivers to use the bridle paths as a cut-through. Speed control infrastructure, like speed humps, on the bridle paths could prevent this, but isn’t part of the plan.

• The intersections at Western and Washington are too wide. That makes them more dangerous for pedestrians crossing the street. While Manning is just one

Albany street and one project, it is an opportunity for Albany to bring real, common-sense improvements to a corridor where there is plenty of room for infrastructure. Residents across the city are expressing concerns about dangerous conditions on Albany’s streets. This project is a perfect opportunity for city officials to follow its own plans and create the city we say we want to be.

What’s more, the impending closure of The College of Saint Rose and the shuttering of the sole pharmacy and cinema in Albany’s Pine Hills have highlighted the important role streets have in creating vibrant, strong communities. In thriving cities, business owners depend on foot traffic; residents depend on walkability to goods and services.

While conversations continue on shaping the neighborhood’s future, better street design is one way the city of Albany can take action right now to make Pine Hills more resilient.

Complete Streets plans work. And these safety measures are already codified into law. Let’s make the most of Manning Boulevard’s makeover.