Brand spankin' new construction, paid for with tax dollars, and what is the result?
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Smoothing out the rough spots Machine will provide temporary solution for some city potholes
BY HALEY VICCARO Gazette Reporter
A machine is coming to fill the potholes on Erie Boulevard this week.
If you drive down Erie Boulevard in Schenectady, you’ve probably swerved to avoid the potholes or cringed as you hit one or two of them. That might not be the case by this weekend.
“We were scheduling to do it [Wednesday], but with the weather conditions, Thursday or Friday looks better to get in there,” said Art Clay, Schenectady’s street manager. “You want to have a dry surface to do the pothole-filling. We know we need to address the Erie Boulevard area.”
In addition to Erie, the city also plans to fill potholes on a section of Altamont Avenue later this week.
Schenectady will be using a new machine called the Crafco Patcher to fill the potholes. Clay said it’s only been used on a few streets and in test locations.
The potholes that were filled with the machine — including some on Foster Avenue, Lang Street, Salina Street and Seneca Street — have weathered the handful of winter storms that have each dumped between 6 and 12 inches of snow on the city, Clay said. “We did some streets just last week, and they are holding up pretty good,” he said.
Potholes are filled differently depending on the depth of the hole, Clay said. For smaller potholes, the machine heats polymer asphalt, similar to the material used to seal cracks in roads, and applies a layer to secure the bottom of the hole and another layer on top.
For deeper potholes, the machine inserts stone for support, then several layers of polymer asphalt are applied to pack the stone and fill the pothole.
Clay said the plan is to fill potholes from the walkway on Erie Boulevard up to Mike’s Hot Dogs, between Nott Street and Union Street. Then the machine would make its way over to Altamont Avenue.
Mayor Gary McCarthy said the city is currently leasing the Crafco Patcher but plans to purchase it soon. The cost to buy the machine would be about $50,000, Clay said.
“This machine can be used year-round to fill potholes, and you can also do sealing,” McCarthy said. “The material that it uses is more versatile and has a longer lifespan.”
McCarthy said crews are constantly working to fill potholes as quickly as possible and as complaints roll in.
“The crews are out there all of the time; it’s an annual ritual,” he said. “We try to do the higher-traffic streets first, then secondary streets. The crews will also work on a neighborhood system, so when they are in a neighborhood, they will do other potholes nearby.”
In McCarthy’s State of the City address in January, he announced plans to pave more than 10 miles of streets this year. That’s up from the average of 8.5 miles over the last couple years, and significantly more than the 2.6-mile average before 2011.
City Engineer Chris Wallin said Erie Boulevard would not be paved this year due to anticipated construction traffic from the Mohawk Harbor development, the start of construction of the Erie Boulevard and Nott Street roundabout in June and plans to replace a water line under Erie Boulevard next year.
“What we’re doing now is for maintenance,” Wallin said. “We’re not going to pave until that work is done, which will take a significant toll on the road.”
The 3 /4-mile portion of Erie Boulevard that was rebuilt, from Interstate 890 to Union Street, cost $14 million, and the city can’t afford to continue that method of rebuilding, Wallin said.
Instead of reconstruction, the city is looking to preservation, he said. The city will use alternative methods of paving this year — a combination of hot mix recycling and mill and fill — to cover more than 10 miles of streets.
The alternative to traditional paving only gets into about two inches of the road, which means underlying issues are not addressed.
“They’re all preservation techniques,” Wallin said. “We’re milling out 1 to 2 inches and overlaying 1 to 2 inches. So if you do an inch overlay a year later, you’re going to start seeing cracks. We bought a new crack sealer to address that problem. We’re focused on better management.”
Roads paved using the new, cheaper method have developed some cracks and potholes. Wallin said crews will seal all of the roads that were paved last year. He also plans to organize a new schedule to ensure roads are maintained annually.
This year, Wallin said, the city will focus on paving streets in the Bellevue and Woodlawn neighborhoods. Main roads including Broadway, Albany Street and Altamont Avenue would also be paved.
McCarthy said the paving program is being finalized and will be announced shortly. Clay said he is looking forward to meeting McCarthy’s goal of paving more than 10 miles of streets. He already has a list of streets he believes need to be addressed.
“The past couple of winters have been detrimental to our very bad roads, as you can see,” Clay said. “If you can’t get to the potholes you need to get to, they’re only going to get worse. I want to get 10 miles of road accomplished.”
Yep, brand new construction, new everything and it's falling apart! More incompetence from the city which can't do anything right.
And Erie Blvd, north of that underpass, has been really bad since even before the other part was reconstructed. But now that area north of the underpass is just going to stay bad.
Look at that comment "the city can't afford....." Oh, but the city CAN AFFORD to exempt billionaires from paying taxes. The city "CAN AFFORD" to demolish a building owned by a billionaire.
Only 10 miles of streets in the city will be paved? Ah, no money for paving, but there is money to demolish a building owned by a billionaire. No money to pave streets IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS but they have money to give to their political cronies downtown.
This mayor is so totally incompetent.
Oh, blamed it on tough winters. Yep blame it on the winters instead of the mis-management and corruption in the city of spending tax money on millionaire and billionaire political cronies.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
From what I see many highways, roads and streets have taken a beating this winter including the NYS Thruway which is a toll road. I am not denying that there are some rough areas in the City but the area which was reconstructed is holding up well. I believe it would be a waste of money to pave the area on Erie Blvd. north of Union St considering the upcoming construction. The article did state that the section of highway would be addressed. I believe they are trying to make the improvements but the money only goes so far and the past few winters have been tough.
I believe the picture is of the sections not rebuilt...it is still the old pavement. So unless I am wrong, then YOUR STATEMENT is wrong...if I am wrong, then my bad.
JUST BECAUSE SISSY SAYS SO DOESN'T MAKE IT SO...BUT HE THINKS IT DOES!!!!! JUST BECAUSE MC1 SAYS SO DOESN'T MAKE IT SO!!!!!
The new construction began on the other side of the railroad bridge and went down to I-890. The part with potholes shown in the picture was NOT included in the new construction. This thread is just another attempt by someone to throw out a falsehood/red herring to start another nonconstructive argument.
George Amedore & Christian Klueg for NYS Senate 2016 Pete Vroman for State Assembly 2016[/size][/color]
"For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground." Lyndon Baines Johnson
I can't believe that clown posted a picture of the street that wasn't paved. What a dolt. You folks still believe that the clown's info is good? I had to drive down Erie this a.m. to get to the VA clinic for my yearly free freeloadin', socialist/non-socialist physical (btw turns out I'm healthy as an ox, so ya'll can expect some of your hard earned tax dollars to be going to MY healthcare for another year), and instead of traversing that section of the road, I turned on Union St. and avoided any serious potholes.
"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,"
Umm, based on what I see, that pic originated from the DAILY GAZETTE as part of the article... so, your MC1 hate make y'all look like douches on this one.
"Arguing with liberals is like playing chess with a pigeon; no matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon is just going to knock out the pieces, crap on the board, and strut around like it is victorious." - Author Unknown
I would bet my life that they will be using that Crafco filler on potholes with water and ice in them. They even pave when its raining. They are mostly idiots who do a job to get it done not to get it right.
Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid - John Wayne
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Umm, based on what I see, that pic originated from the DAILY GAZETTE as part of the article... so, your MC1 hate make y'all look like douches on this one.
Doesn't matter where the pic originated. The post was dishonest. And again, I drove Erie this morning. No problem on the recently paved part. And your MC1 love makes you look like a douche to those of us who know the real deal about the clown. Just sayin'
"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,"
Doesn't matter where the pic originated. The post was dishonest. And again, I drove Erie this morning. No problem on the recently paved part. And your MC1 love makes you look like a douche to those of us who know the real deal about the clown. Just sayin'
Yeah, it does matter....It's YOU and other the haters who took him to task for including it... like he took the pic and added to the Gazette article...which he didn't.. If you are going criticize, go after his comments, not the article and pic which were a simple cut and paste from the Gazette.
I do have a towel handy if you want to wipe the egg off of your face though...
"Arguing with liberals is like playing chess with a pigeon; no matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon is just going to knock out the pieces, crap on the board, and strut around like it is victorious." - Author Unknown
On a positive note, construction on a new Amtrak Station for Schenectady on Erie Blvd. will begin this year. This is just the beginning of a lot of positive news for Schenectady will be revealed in the weeks and months ahead.
George Amedore & Christian Klueg for NYS Senate 2016 Pete Vroman for State Assembly 2016[/size][/color]
"For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground." Lyndon Baines Johnson
Yeah, it does matter....It's YOU and other the haters who took him to task for including it... like he took the pic and added to the Gazette article...which he didn't.. If you are going criticize, go after his comments, not the article and pic which were a simple cut and paste from the Gazette.
I do have a towel handy if you want to wipe the egg off of your face though...
Point is, he tried to represent the pic as the recently paved section of Erie, then he could go on one of his patented rants. Hey, isn't that what politicians do? Hmm, you don't think your man-lover mc1 could be thinking about a run for office do you? Or wait, what about this? Maybe he already HAS attempted that, and failed. Nah, that's too farfetched.
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On a positive note, construction on a new Amtrak Station for Schenectady on Erie Blvd. will begin this year. This is just the beginning of a lot of positive news for Schenectady will be revealed in the weeks and months ahead.
Too bad they couldn't just rebuild the one they tore down many, many years ago. Or maybe replicate it.
"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,"
I was posting to inform that the Gazette article and photo was highlighting the fact that Erie Blvd was in need of repair north of Union St, that area has not been repaved since early 2000. Mike commented on Erie Blvd was falling apart shortly after millions of dollars have been spent in the recent years, that section of highway is holding up well. So who really has egg on there face?
I was posting to inform that the Gazette article and photo was highlighting the fact that Erie Blvd was in need of repair north of Union St, that area has not been repaved since early 2000. Mike commented on Erie Blvd was falling apart shortly after millions of dollars have been spent in the recent years, that section of highway is holding up well. So who really has egg on there face?
^5 Not to belabor the point, put I have gone to the VA clinic on Gerling St. 3 times in the past 2 weeks. My route is 890 to Erie to Nott to Rosa to Gerling. Erie to Union is fine. The rest of the route is nasty. Today I turned on Union to Seward to Nott, Rosa, to Gerling. Not nearly as bad that way, far fewer potholes. Oh, and the traffic at 7:30-8am moves very well.
"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,"
Regardless of when it was repaired it is now long overdue. It has been like this for years, and this seasons extreme temperatures have caused the complete failure of this road. Everyone who has ever traveled Erie Blvd north of Union St (which I did reluctantly last night) knows the precarious nature of the roadway with its holes and poorly patched surfaces. The failure to repair this section before it became this atrocious is solely the fault of the administration. The statement
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Erie Boulevard would not be paved this year due to anticipated construction traffic from the Mohawk Harbor development
does not excuse the past half dozen years of complete neglect to this heavily traveled section of road.
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