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Note to self: Prepare for detours in 2010
Commuting disruptions likely as Northway Exit 6 is rebuilt

By CATHY WOODRUFF, Staff writer
First published: Wednesday, May 14, 2008

COLONIE -- For those who like to take a long view when making their commuting plans, 2010 should be a red-letter year.
It will bring the final and most-disruptive phase of a three-year project to rebuild the Northway Exit 6 interchange with Route 7.

And because the work could have major implications for commuters and an array of employers and businesses -- colleges, grocers, landscapers, truckers and who knows how many others -- state transportation officials have decided there is no time like the present to start spreading the word of what is on the way.

"There are going to be some growing pains here and there," said Dan Moore, the state Department of Transportation's project manager for the Exit 6 job. "The construction itself, and the sequencing, is fairly complicated. But in terms of traffic impacts, we want to make this as painless as possible for the traveling public."

Moore said the aim is to encourage businesses, commuters and other motorists who travel regularly through the interchange to start considering alternate routes, modifications to their schedules, shift changes, car pooling, working from home or other steps that could help ease the squeeze.

"We really need to do some groundwork to identify the stakeholders and let them know when people using this interchange could foresee traffic backups out there," he said.

Not surprisingly, the morning and afternoon rush hours are the busiest times, with the evening travel patterns putting the most drivers on paths through the heart of the interchange, Moore said.

More than 44,000 vehicles cross over Interstate 87 on the Route 7 bridge each day. Nearly 140,000 vehicles pass underneath, heading north and south on I-87.

A contractor for the $28 million job is to be selected this summer, and preliminary work should begin by autumn, Moore said. Among the first visible work will be construction of "auxiliary" lanes on the Northway between Exits 5 and 6. Reconstruction of Route 7 from Wade Road to Rensselaer Avenue west of the interchange is slated for 2009.

"We've orchestrated the schedule to focus on different roadways at different times," he said. "That way, we're not going to impact all the roadways at the same time."

The idea is to complete work around the main interchange in 2008 and 2009 so the contractor can concentrate almost entirely on the complex bridge replacement project in the third year, Moore said.

Three of the seven traffic lanes that carry Route 7 over Interstate 87 will be closed for the duration of the 2010 work as crews methodically dismantle the current bridge, which connects to Route 2 on the east side, and build a new one featuring a new type of intersection called a "single point urban interchange," or SPUI.

Brief closures of the interchange also are expected during overnight or weekend hours.

Moore said it's hard to predict what adjustments motorists will want to make, but the hope is that earlier notice will expand the options for everyone.

Mona Golub, spokeswoman for the Schenectady County-based Price Chopper supermarkets, said it's not too early to start considering alternate routes for the construction period.

"We route a significant number of trucks through that intersection, and any advance notice we can get will help us to better reroute traffic to better service our stores and our customers," she said.

Since the 2010 work is expected to extend from March into October, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will keep the likely impacts in mind when planning big events such as commencement in May and move-in days at the start of the semester, said college spokesman Jason Gorss.

Also, "we have a lot of faculty and staff who live across the Capital Region and use that interchange," Gorss noted.

The construction schedule details will likely be of interest to trucking companies, which may choose to adjust their own schedules and routes to avoid the bottleneck, said Brenten Lavelle, safety supervisor with Pennsylvania-based New Penn Motor Express.

At the headquarters for New York State United Teachers, a short distance west of the interchange, spokesman Carl Korn said planning for the disruption is in its early stages.

"We need to know what the timetable is. At this point, there aren't a lot of specifics," he said, but NYSUT will look for ways to minimize the project's impact on its employees.

Some 350 people work at the multistory brick building, home also to United University Professions.

Jon Sosnowski, who with his brother owns Mayfair Jewelers just east of the Northway on Troy-Schenectady Road, said the project will be disruptive, but he expects customers will still be able to reach the store by approaching from the east.

Visiting a jeweler usually is a planned trip, rather than a spur-of-the-moment decision while driving by, he said, so expects it won't have a big impact on business. Still, he added, "you like the traffic count because it's built-in exposure."

Afrim Nezaj, owner of Afrim's Sports, which includes dome-covered playing fields on Route 7, said he will e-mail his customers, reminding them to allow extra time to get to the facility during the project.

"It's got to get done," he said of the traffic-clogged Exit 6 intersection. "They've got to make it better."

Business Editor Eric Anderson contributed to this story. Cathy Woodruff can be reached at 454-5093 or by e-mail at cwoodruff@timesunion.com.