Category Archives: Albany County Rail Trail

[Comments received on this post and on a related email are posted at the end.]

For the first time, a visitor to the South End Bikeway Connector site can get a clear picture of the entire route and layout from the trailhead at Old S. Pearl St. to the Albany Riverfront Park at the Slater/Dutch Apple anchorages.

• The on-street cycle track on S. Pearl St. is complete except for perhaps signage, painting, and other “clean up” activities.
• The portion along I-787 Frontage Road/northbound entry road is graded but needs paving a lot of finish work.

• The “linear park” under I-787 from Church St./Vine St. to Broadway and the Hudson River is clearly visible although in the early stages of preparation. The only area that is not apparent is the bump out to skirt the massive I-787 support structure where the connector will be on-road at the Church St./Bassett St. intersection until Rensselaer St. (Church St. will be one-way south for petrovehicles in this area.)

For site photos and a complete route description, follow these links:

• https://albanybicyclecoalition.com/2019/10/28/south-end-bikeway-connector-rumbles-along/
• https://albanybicyclecoalition.com/2019/11/11/south-end-bikeway-connector-rumbles-along-contd-11-10-19/
• https://albanybicyclecoalition.com/2019/11/26/south-end-bikeway-connector-rumbles-along-contd-11-22-19/

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COMMENTS RECIVED AS OF 5-20-20:

• I just came that way and there is a van parked there – might be the same car. I agree there should be signage and maybe there will be when it’s all complete.  The glass and other debris situation is something that was brought up at the various community meetings – with the outstanding question as to who will maintain that section.
• That darn Van is parked there most of the time.
• What about the glass on the section along the ramp of 787? It has been horrible.
• Went home this way about 4:30 pm.  There were no barriers this afternoon from the bus shelter south.  Woman in the silver van was parking in the bike lane as I was passing (well there was one barrier but someone knocked it away).
• Is this section of the trail actually completed and open?  Have not ridden this area lately since it appeared that a top coat and other work was not done, some barriers still existed.  
• When I rode home from the rail trail, there were barriers blocking the bike lane!
• I haven’t been on S. Pearl lately, so I’ve missed the van scofflaw, but I have been coming home from downtown via the river and Broadway/Church and then on the other 787 access road that exits at S. Pearl near McCarty and 1st Ave. (across from Cherry Hill house). I’ve noticed that the 787 access road that you note is being prepped for repaving. Let’s hope that will alleviate some of the glass issues, for awhile at least. I rode on that section last month and you are correct in that the amount of glass was extraordinary, it seemed to be covering nearly every square inch. I ended up with a flat on my rear tire. It made me wonder if there was some sort of weird religious cult that required its practitioners to go out and smash glass in places used by bicyclists and pedestrians. As I ride that way, I can also see that they are doing extensive work under 787 and in making the connection across Church St between the access road and under the highway. Last week I was able to ride a little bit under the highway as they had graded the roadway, but can’t this week as there is a sizeable gap between the curb and the proposed cycle path. Still have a hard time picturing people actually hanging out there, no matter how much they prettify it. Riding through downtown has been eerie these last few weeks, but boy, I’m going to miss the reduced amount of traffic once we return to whatever new normal we will be returning to.
• Drove past it last night … People are using the Connector for parking.  This must be stopped before it becomes normalized.  

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Looking south to work-in-progress connecting the trailhead/parking to the cycle track on S. Pearl St. (The traffic light is at Old S. Pearl St.)

The new CDTA pickup at the north end of the Pearl St. segment of the cycle track (just visible behind the booth).  Ezra Prentiss homes at the far right.

Those big, stinking, noisy, fuming trucks still very much part of the daily scene – and notably traveling above the speed limit.

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The end of the cycle track on the north end of Frontage Rd. at Church St./Vine St. (Tank bombs to the left.)

Here are today’s (11/22/19) views of progress on the South End Bikeway Connector. From them, it is clear that the South End Bikeway Connector will be open from Church St. at the RR tracks to the Helderberg Hudson Rail Trail trailhead at Old S. Pearl St. by the end of the construction season. According to the City of Albany, the remainder will be completed in 2020. In the meanwhile, riders will be able to access downtown Albany along Green St. or veer off Green St. to the right onto 4^th Ave. to access Broadway. An alternative is to turn right (east) at the RR tracks to take Broadway directly to the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail at the Slater/Dutch Apple mooring and then onto Buffalo on the Erie Canalway Trail.

The first shows the general layout of the connection from the trailhead to the South End Bikeway Connector (looking north from the parking lot).

Next, a couple views of the actual 2-way protected bicycle lanes on S. Pearl St. (formerly Orchard St., Washington St., Common Ln., Cow Ln., and Cow St.). The construction pylons are not the final “protection” – they are to keep petrovehicles and those humongous trucks out of the cycle track until conclusion of construction.

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Here is a nice view of Capital District Transportation Authority’s brand new bus shelter on its new concrete pad with the protected bicycle lane passing behind the shelter and onto the I-787 “Frontage Rd.”

These views looking south from Church St. (named for the nearby St. John’s and “Dutch” churches) show the cycle track with a landscaped barrier. This is the likely end of South End Bikeway Connector construction for 2019.

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~ The South End Connector Bikeway Route Description ~

A South End Bikeway Connector route description follows below. When completed, the SEBC will be the first Protected Bicycle Lanes in the City of Albany and the first bicycle lanes that actually connect up to other facilities – the Helderberg Hudson Rail Trail and the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail/Erie Canalway Trail/Empire State Trail. According to the City of Albany, construction on the SEBC will continue until the end of the 2019 construction season. With this additional 1.5 miles of bicycle lanes, Albany will have a total of 6 miles of bicycle lanes just in time for the 10th anniversary of the Albany Bicycle/Pedestrian Master Plan.

The bikeway begins at S. Pearl St./Old S. Pearl St. in the Helderberg Hudson Rail Trail trailhead and parking lot. Between Old S. Pearl St. and Mt. Hope Dr. and the Frontage Road (the I-787 northbound entry road), there will be a separated, on-street, two-way cycle track. (This two-way feature alleviates the need for people on bicycles to cross S. Pearl St.) The cycle track will continue onto the east/river side of the Frontage Rd. to Church St. It will then briefly turn west before continuing on an off-road, 10-foot wide, multi-use trail and linear park underneath I-787 to Broadway and Quay St. To skirt the I-787 support structure, at the Church St./Bassett St. intersection the connector will be on-road until Rensselaer St. Here it again it will shift back off-road until the turn toward the Hudson River, the Slater and Dutch Apple mooring, and the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail/Albany Riverfront Park. To accommodate the connector’s path, Church St. from Rensselaer St. to Bassett St. will become a one-way southbound. Broadway currently consists of four travel lanes – two eastbound and two westbound. One lane on will be removed to construct the multi-use path on the south side of Broadway (where it passes under I-787), resulting in one westbound lane and two eastbound lanes.

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