FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• We’ve been talking about the waterfront and I-787 for a long time and nothing seems to get done. Why is this time any different?

  In the past few years there have been a number of key social, cultural, and environmental factors that have come to a head, including the acute threats of climate change, the Black Lives Matter and social justice movements, the altered commuting patterns due to the pandemic, and the federal focus on investing and fixing infrastructure. All of these factors have helped fundamentally shift the conversation and shape a national landscape that is much more open to rethinking our relationship to legacy urban highways. Albany is now one of over 30 cities across the nation proposing to change their highways into a boulevard. Our upstate sister cities—Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse—are all in the process of removing their highways. Ask yourself this: Why not, Albany?  Why not now?

• How is this project going to be paid for?

  For the first time in history, there are now a number of big money Federal infrastructure bills, including the recently passed HR 3684 “Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act” which features $2 billion dedicated to its “Reconnecting Communities Pilot program.” In addition, funds can be reallocated, as the NYS DOT will be able to repurpose the exorbitant highway maintenance costs for this overbuilt behemoth. This, combined with the windfall of new property tax revenues that will be generated by opening 92 acres of new space will go a long way towards the creation of urban boulevards, greenspace, and crucial reconnective corridors for our city.

• Will this be completed all at once or phased in over time?

  The answer is yes, and yes. We can’t know now what will be possible in ten or twenty years from today. The work on individual projects will happen along the path to our goal/vision. The key is to cross-check each step, each incremental project, against our core principles so that we maintain our direction and purpose.

• How will this affect commute time?

  A boulevarded highway could actually improve traffic by increasing access points and spreading vehicles across a larger network of roads. Currently, I-787 suffers from a lack of access points which can create bottlenecks and congestion. In addition, any waterfront or I-787 plan will require a significant parallel investment in public transportation to make intercity travel within the Capital Region fast and seamless.

• What is happening to the railroad tracks that run down the center of I-787?

  The railroad tracks will remain in place. There must creative design solutions created along the periphery of the tracks to enhance them visually via murals and greenscaping and address noise and safety issues through land and hardscape buffers. The existing underpasses will be redeveloped for safe, convenient pedestrian access to the parks and riverfront, as well as Rensselaer.

• What about the skyway? Is this part of the plan?

  The Albany Skyway, which will be finished in December 2021, is an important first step towards reconnecting Albany with its waterfront. But it is only a first step, and must be seen as part of a larger, comprehensive process to realizing the true potential of Albany as a riverfront city. As a whole, the region is in need of safe, easy access points to its existing waterfront.

• How can equity be a key part of the process? How do we avoid simply gentrifying (ie, development with displacement) our neighborhoods?

  One of the core principles for our work is “We seek to go beyond inclusion to co-creation.” There is power in seeking co-creation. As we keep this idea as a guidepost, we can learn to be humble in the face of new concerns, different ideas, and perspectives that are unfamiliar. This will help us to remain equitable in our efforts and we expect to be able to identify how to revitalize and reconnect the communities that exist while we welcome community growth.

• How will this affect the truck traffic from the Port of Albany?

  Excess truck traffic and the cascading community health effects from this traffic remain a huge concern for the South End neighborhood. Any final design vision must take such community impacts into consideration and design transportation corridors that do not adversley affect the health of communities.

• Who will own, control, and maintain the park along the river?

  One proposal is for the Albany Downtown BID to be the program manager; they can guide vendors, promoters, and event sponsors to obtain City permits. Another option is having NYS Parks & Recreation as the owner with a separate non profit agency programmer, in the model of the Central Park Conservancy.

• Who is the Albany Riverfront Collaborative (ARC)?

  The ARC is a group of deeply concerned community members that represent a wide swath of citizenry. We are representative of all those that will be positively impacted by this initiative and urban transformation. The only prerequisite for joining the ARC is that you care about the community and can contribute to the collaborative in some manner.

• Are other cities doing this?

  Yes! Many. Over 30 cities across the country are in the process of reconsidering their urban highways. The Congress for the New Urbanism has been tracking and highlighting all of the projects across the country through their Freeways Without Futures program. The 2021 Report features 4 (!) Upstate NY projects. Albany’s I-787 is not one of them… yet!