Each day in the Capital Region, we take 3.2 million trips by auto, transit, walking, or biking, traveling on the region's 14,000 lane-miles of roadway (including over 800 lane-miles of Interstate Highways), over 1,000 bridges, and through over 1,100 traffic signals. Maintaining this infrastructure in a state of good repair is essential to regional mobility, economic vitality, and quality of life.  

 

Read below to learn about the Transportation Council's recent and upcoming Infrastructure Planning activities.

 

Route 378 Over the Hudson – Troy-Menands Bridge

New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Region 1 is nearing completion on a Bridge Scoping/Planning and Environmental Linkage (PEL) Study. The study is assessing the feasibility and environmental impacts of reconstructing the Troy-Menands Bridge on its current alignment as well as other conceptual alignments. NYSDOT is working in conjunction with the Capital Region Transportation Council and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), along with steering committees comprised of partner agencies.

Built in 1932, the Troy-Menands Bridge crosses the Hudson River and serves as a vital link in the Capital Region’s transportation network, carrying over 37,000 vehicles per day. The Draft Project Scoping Report was prepared in November 2023 and contains information on existing transportation and environmental conditions, conceptual bridge alignments, traffic report, summary of public participation, and more.

Project website: https://www.dot.ny.gov/troymenandsbridge

Draft Project Scoping Report: https://www.dot.ny.gov/troymenandsbridge/reports

 

 

Reimagining I-787

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is undertaking a Planning and Environmental Linkage (PEL) study to reimagine the Interstate 787 Corridor and its proximity to the Hudson River. The study will expand on the previously completed I-787 Hudson Waterfront Study completed in 2018 by the Capital Region Transportation Council. This study was initiated in June 2023 and will examine potential future transportation strategies for I-787 that support and balance economic development and revitalization efforts, including enhanced walking, biking, and public transportation access to the waterfront while maintaining corridor mobility and safety.

NYSDOT and their consultant team are currently collecting data and information about the study area, developing goals and objectives, and considering potential future concepts and scenarios.

Project website: https://webapps.dot.ny.gov/reimagining-i-787

 

Livingston Avenue Bridge Project

The Livingston Avenue Bridge spans the Hudson River connecting the cities of Albany and Rensselaer by rail. Built in 1902, this bridge carries Amtrak passenger trains and freight trains daily. The bridge is a critical link for passenger rail service as no detour is available without creating substantial delays.

NYSDOT is proposing to replace the Livingston Avenue Bridge. The project was included in the FY 2025 New York State Executive Budget. At the February 7th, 2024 meeting of the Capital Region Transportation Council Planning Committee, the committee recommended a new project addition to the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for a $608 million dollar state-funded replacement of the Livington Avenue Bridge. This TIP amendment will be brought to Policy Board on February 15th, 2024 for their consideration and final approval.

Project website: https://www.dot.ny.gov/livingstonavebridge

 

 

Identification of Bridge Preservation Candidates, Treatments, and Costs for Locally Owned Capital District Bridges (2021)

This study was initiated by the Capital Region Transportation Committee to examine condition data on all 377 locally owned bridges in order to identify candidates that could benefit from timely preservation strategies, to develop conceptual work strategies and construction cost estimates for all bridges, and to estimate the level of investment needed at the regional level to maintain bridge state of repair.  This project was implemented as a recommendation of the New Visions 2050 Regional Transportation Plan (2020) and supports infrastructure planning efforts for the upcoming update to the Regional Transportation Plan. This study also supports the NYSDOT ‘Preservation First’ strategy identified in the statewide Transportation Asset Management Plan (TAMP).

Repair strategies were identified for 274 locally owned bridges below a condition threshold. The total repair cost is $168 million, with bridge preservation-only projects making up approximately $110M of this total. In comparison with the 2015 Local Bridge Preservation Study, projected bridge preservation-only costs have increased by approximately $30M (was $80.5M in 2015). This increase in total repair cost is attributed in part to the more detailed bridge element condition information that results from the AASHTO Element-level inspection methods now being used by NYSDOT to document bridge conditions.

Final Report: https://www.capitalmpo.org/images/roads_bridges/2020_CDTC_Local_Bridge_Study_-_Final_Report.pdf

 

New Visions 2050 Infrastructure White Paper

Preserving, Managing, and Renewing the Capital District’s Infrastructure

Completed in 2020 as part of the New Visions 2050 Regional Transportation Plan, the Infrastructure White Paper details an inventory of roadway and bridge infrastructure in the Capital Region. The White Paper contains performance measures and maps relating roadway and bridge condition over time to support performance-based planning efforts. The White Paper also identifies recommended strategies and future actions to support future investments through the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

The Infrastructure White Paper highlights critical components of the Capital Region’s transportation network, including the aging bridge crossings of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers that carry more than 500,000 vehicles per day. Many of these vital river crossings have reached or will soon reach their end of service life, with continued maintenance becoming costly. Major capital investment projects such as the Troy-Menands Bridge Replacement, I-787 Feasibility Studies, and Livingston Avenue Bridge Replacement were identified in the White Paper and have since become major planning efforts.

Infrastructure White Paper: https://www.capitalmpo.org/images/new_visions/CDTC_Infrastructure_WhitePaper_1-25-2020.pdf

 

 

 

Coming soon – I-890 Planning and Environmental Linkage (PEL) Study

As part of the current FY2022-2027 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), the Capital Region Transportation Council approved $440,000 in funding for the I-890 Exit 4C State Street/Washington Ave PEL Study. As part of this study, design alternatives will be evaluated to improve access and mobility of all modes of transportation and to identify environmental and historical constraints. This project will be led by Schenectady County in partnership with NYSDOT and the Transportation Council. More information on this project will be available soon.

 

 

 

 

 

Bridge NY Program

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and Capital Region Transportation Council manage an annual Bridge NY funding program. This program provides funding assistance to local governments for projects that rehabilitate and replace bridges, particularly projects that address poor structural conditions, mitigate weight restrictions or detours, facilitate economic development, increase economic competitiveness, improve resiliency and/or reduce the risk of flooding. This program is open to all public bridge owners.

The application window for the 2023 Bridge NY program is closed. Project evaluations and final selections will be discussed at the March 7th, 2024 meeting of the Transportation Council Policy Board.

Information on the 2023 Bridge NY solicitation may be found here: https://www.capitalmpo.org/transportation-plans/transportation-improvement-program/2023-bridge-ny

The NYSDOT Statewide Bridge NY page, which includes information on the funding for culvert projects, can be found here: https://www.dot.ny.gov/BRIDGENY

  

More Information

For more information on current infrastructure condition, visit our Performance Management page: https://www.capitalmpo.org/what-we-do/performance-management

For more information on infrastructure projects in the current Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), please visit our TIP page: https://www.capitalmpo.org/transportation-plans/transportation-improvement-program