The Uptown UAlbany Campus:

Pedestrian Issues and Bicycle Access

Transportation Committee of the University Life Council

The accompanying resolution concerning pedestrian issues originally grew out of dissatisfaction with the pedestrian environment in the State Quad-Earth Sciences area this past winter.

However, as we looked around campus, it became evident that there is a lack of thought for pedestrian safety, comfort and convenience not just in the State Quad area, but all around the uptown campus.

This report will present some of the problem areas on campus, and also look at possibilities for access between the campus and the surrounding community.

The University’s Master Plan

(from http://chef.fab.albany.edu/mastplan/development/goals.htm )

Goal #2 (of 4): Develop the campus as primarily a safe pedestrian environment

• Minimize vehicular/pedestrian conflicts around the podium and in other areas with high pedestrian activity.

• Concentrate visitor/event/visiting faculty parking in locations that are convenient to their destinations.

• Develop connectivity between campus facilities.

• Develop a distinct campus-wide pedestrian walkway system separate from the roadways.

• Reinforce and enhance desired pedestrian routes.

• Improve pedestrian approaches to and onto podium.

We found that the actual pedestrian environment on the campus is far from meeting the goal presented in the Master Plan. In this part of the report we will survey some of the problem areas, working counterclockwise starting from the State Quad area.

State Quad Area

The area between the State Quad parking lot and the podium was particularly difficult this past winter, primarily because the Life Sciences construction staging area forced both vehicle and pedestrian traffic in the area onto the State Quad access road. The University constructed a sidewalk alongside that access road, but it doesn’t go all the way to the parking lot, and was not always well-cleared of snow, so it was less useful than it should have been--many pedestrians just ignored the sidewalk and walked in the roadway.

Conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians were most severe after 4 pm in the winter months, when commuters seeking parking spots near the podium encountered pedestrians in the roadway coming and going from classes in the dark.

Pedestrians normally cross the State Quad access road, weave around the parked cars and walk on a diagonal dirt path to reach the podium, rather than walking on the roadways. But in the winter this path is often blocked by snow, so pedestrians must share the roadway between State Quad and the podium with vehicles.

Collins Circle Area

Visitor parking and the bus stop on Collins Circle are separated from the podium by cobblestone pavement. Footing on the cobblestones is difficult at all times for women in heels or persons with impaired mobility or with strollers, and is particularly so in the winter. The obstacle to reaching the podium presented by the cobblestones cannot be helpful for the University’s relations with the community.

Colonial Quad Area

As in the State Quad area, there are several locations with well-worn dirt paths One connects Colonial Quad and the podium between the Arts and Sciences and the Business buildings. Others extend sidewalks coming in from the Colonial parking lot. We have not observed, but assume, that the dirt paths are not kept clear of snow.

Empire Commons Area

Already at Empire Commons there are heavily eroded areas near doorways and at the ends of sidewalks indicating locations where sidewalks should be but were omitted.

A more serious problem is access between Empire Commons and the parking lot north of the complex. Someone parking in that lot has two choices to reach Empire Commons. One is to scrambling up a grassy knoll adjacent to the perimeter road, then walk on the lawn into the complex. One can already see erosion on the grass where this route has been used.

The other route is to cross the perimeter road at the crosswalk east of the parking lot, observing the sign to yield to all vehicular traffic (in contravention of state law regarding vehicle behavior at crosswalks), then walk on the sidewalk to the next crosswalk to the south, which does attempt to tell vehicles to yield to pedestrians.

Access between Empire Commons and the parking lot was the subject of a letter in the ASP earlier this year.

Student Health Center

The short route between the parking lot and the front entrance includes a heavily eroded dirt path connecting the parking lot and the sidewalk along the east side of the building.

CESTM

To walk from the podium area to the original CESTM building, a pedestrian would walk on the sidewalk on Tricentennial Drive to reach the Fuller Road intersection. From there, the desired route would be to walk north along the west side of Fuller Road, since the building is obviously located in that direction. But the only route with sidewalks requires continuing to walk along Tricentennial Drive (on a sidewalk partially in disrepair) to the entrance to Freedom Quad, then turn sharply to the northeast to walk along the access road to CESTM. The University should work with Albany County to put in a sidewalk along the west side of Fuller Road north of Tricentennial Drive.

Dutch Quad area

There is a 30+ year old dirt path connecting the north end of the parking lot to the northwest corner of Dutch Quad. There is another dirt path under the trees connecting that corner of Dutch Quad, to the southwest corner of the podium

The wide sidewalk along the east side of the Dutch Quad parking lot ends abruptly before reaching a new east-west sidewalk connecting the north end of the lot to Dutch Quad.

Indian Quad area

There is a diagonal paved sidewalk through the trees partially connecting Indian Quad to the Bookstore, but to reach Indian Quad from the end of that sidewalk a pedestrian must walk through the woods and weave around parked cars, just as at State Quad.

UAB/Public Safety area

The university recently constructed a sidewalk along the inside of the perimeter road between the new Life Sciences building and the driveway leading to the UAB. Unfortunately, that sidewalk was built immediately adjacent to the roadway. Such a design is undesirable for pedestrians for several reasons. One is that pedestrians are more impacted by adjacent vehicle traffic, such as by noise or splashing of rain or slush. Another is that any pedestrian spillover ends up in the roadway, such as when two pedestrians wish to walk abreast and encounter a runner going the other way. A third is an improved sense of security for pedestrians from some separation from vehicular traffic. National design standards (such as the Oregon DOT Bicycle/Pedestrian Plan) recommend at least five feet of green space between a roadway and an adjacent sidewalk, and suggest that trees and other plantings in the green space will further enhance the pedestrian experience.

The original sidewalks along the perimeter road, such as in and near Collins Circle, have such a green strip between the roadway and the sidewalk.

Getting off campus

The uptown campus is a commuter destination for nearly all faculty and staff, and for all of the thousands of students who live off-campus. At present, nearly all of these commuters must drive, because there are few friendly, safe routes to campus for pedestrians and bicyclists.

At the same time, thousands of students who live on campus often go off campus for a variety of reasons—shopping, services, entertainment. Some of their destinations are within reasonable walking or biking distance from campus.

The University should seek ways to encourage people to travel to and from the campus by foot or bicycle. One important reason is public health considerations. The Director of the Center for Disease Control’s Center for Environmental Health, Richard J. Jackson, M. D., wrote recently, "There is a connection…between the fact that the urban sprawl we live with daily makes no room for sidewalks or bike paths and the fact that we are an overweight, heart disease-ridden society." A more practical reason is that people who commute to campus by foot or bicycle don’t clog the campus roads and help overload the campus parking lots.

But simply encouraging non-motorized travel to and from the campus is not enough. The University should get behind efforts to provide safe infrastructure for pedestrians and bicyclists to use to reach the campus. Much of the area around the campus is very unfriendly to pedestrians and cyclists. Washington Avenue Extension, and Fuller Road north of Loughlin Street are unsafe for pedestrians. Western Avenue is part of New York State Bike Route #5, and Western Ave., Washington Ave. and Fuller Road are all part of the Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC)’s Bike and Pedestrian Task Force’s Priority Bike/Ped network, but these highways all have high amounts of traffic and are not safe for other than highly skilled and motivated bicyclists. As Don Odell, Albany County Director of Planning, stated in 1993 during the CDTC New Visions process: "Cyclists (and walkers) are not stupid. If there isn’t a safe place for them to ride (or walk), they won’t do so."

We shall survey some possibilities to connect the uptown campus to the greater community by foot and bicycle more safely. We start next to the campus and move farther away.

I. McKownville, including Stuyvesant Plaza.

All of McKownville, and Stuyvesant Plaza in particular, is within a short walking distance to campus. It should be easy and friendly to walk between the campus and its closest adjacent community.

The Town of Guilderland and the CDTC has made the walking environment in McKownville a high priority. Following adoption of the Town of Guilderland’s Comprehensive Plan in 2001, the CDTC funded a McKownville Corridor Study, which focused on improving the environment in the hamlet for walking. That study in turn led to the inclusion of sidewalks along Western Avenue in McKownville as a $750,000 TIP (Transportation Improvement Program) project, with construction expected to start in around five years.

One reason for the high priority for walking in McKownville is that in addition to McKownville residents, many University residents and employees walk to the shops, services and entertainment in McKownville.

The University should support efforts to make the walking connections between the uptown campus and its neighboring community more safe and attractive. Here are some ideas:

1. Since the only sidewalk along Fuller Road is on the west side, anyone walking from campus to Stuyvesant Plaza, or from the neighborhood west of Fuller Road to campus, must cross Fuller Road, typically at or near the most southern unsignalized intersection of the campus roadways with Fuller Road, across from Mercer Street. There is a crosswalk at that intersection, but it would be desirable to warn motorists explicitly that according to a recent (2003) state law, vehicles traveling in either direction must stop when a pedestrian steps onto the crosswalk. This could be done with a blinking yellow light and by updated signage. Fuller Road is a County highway, so Albany County would be responsible.

2. There is a traffic signal with a pedestrian phase at Executive Park Drive and Fuller Road. But there is no sidewalk along the east side of Fuller Road to connect that intersection with the campus road and sidewalk network, but instead just a very narrow but well-worn dirt path. The crosswalk near Mercer Street is inadequately signed, and traffic on Fuller Road is heavy, so pedestrians walking from the campus to Stuyvesant Plaza typically walk south along the east side of Fuller Road, where there is no sidewalk, until there is an opening in the traffic, then dart across the highway to reach the sidewalk. It should be noted that two pedestrians have been killed crossing Fuller Road in that area during the past 30 years.

Albany County constructed a sidewalk between Providence Street and Loughlin St. on the west side of Fuller Road within the past few years. The University should encourage the County to install a sidewalk along the east side of Fuller Road at least between the southern campus entrance road and Executive Park Drive, so pedestrians can cross at the signal at Executive Park Drive.

C. How does someone walk between Freedom Quad and Stuyvesant Plaza?

Walk Along Tricentennial Drive to Fuller Road, then along Fuller Road? But there is no sidewalk or shoulder along Fuller Road next to the cemetery, so that route is dangerous.

§ Through the cemetery? It’s certainly possible, if highly inappropriate, to cut through the cemetery to reach the sidewalk on Fuller Road south of the cemetery.

§ Cross Fuller Road and continue along Tricentennial Drive to the perimeter road, cross that to reach the sidewalk on the east side, then walk along that past the Alumni House area, then walk back to Fuller Road and cross Fuller Road either in midblock or at the crosswalk near Mercer Street to reach the sidewalk. No one would go that far out of their way.

§ Along the dirt path on the gas line that runs north from Stuyvesant Plaza along the western boundary of Freedom Quad? There is a fence separating Freedom Quad from that path. But it has been heavily vandalized. It is clear that anyone who walks between Freedom Quad and Stuyvesant Plaza would use the gas line path whenever possible. Why not recognize that and formalize the path?

4. University employees and students residing in McKownville have walked or biked to campus using the side streets off Western Avenue that back up onto the southern edge of the campus (Parkwood St., Glenwood St., Norwood St.) for many years. To continue to encourage this form of commuting, it would be desirable to formalize and improve the informal paths connecting those streets to the campus, and consider how pedestrians and bicyclists using those connections could more easily walk or bike to the podium. Perhaps this question could be addressed as part of the forthcoming master plan for athletic facilities.

5. What route would residents of Empire Commons take if they wished to walk to Stuyvesant Plaza? The only route using sidewalks involves two crossings of the perimeter road. A sidewalk on the west side of the perimeter road near the Alumni House would be appropriate.

6. Some students like to walk from campus to Crossgates. But this involves either walking along Washington Avenue Extension or along Western Avenue past the end of the Northway. Both routes are unfriendly for pedestrians. The University could consider taking an interest in trying to improve those routes (for example, by advocating for a sidewalk along Washington Avenue, or improving the pedestrian environment on Western Avenue).

2. The neighborhoods east and south of the Harriman Campus.

1. There is an existing paved path that connects the perimeter road near the new Life Sciences building with the parking lot of the Harriman Campus building just east of the Life Sciences building. This path was closed for a time after 9-11 because of security concerns. It might be desirable to move that path to the south, through the parking lot of the Sculpture Studio, and connect that path to the main podium area by some kind of off-road bike path. The University should work with the Harriman Campus planners to try to insure that in any reconstruction of that campus, a safe bicycle/pedestrian route connecting the UAlbany campus and the neighborhood east of Brevator Street is included.

2. The access road to the parking lot of the UAB, on Western Avenue, allows a connection between the campus and Homestead St., which in turn connects via Hazelhurst Ave. to the neighborhood near Buckingham Lake. Pedestrian and bicycle use of that parking lot as a route between Homestead St. and the campus could be encouraged, and a direct connection could be developed between the access road and the driveway by the Public Safety building. In addition, perhaps some signage or publicity (e.g a map) would encourage use of that route.

3. North Albany and the Pine Bush Preserve,

Cohoes, Troy, Niskayuna, Buffalo

NYSDOT is presently investigating the feasibility of the proposed Patroon Path, a bike path that would connect Fuller Road at Rensselaer Lake, just north of the I-90 bridge over Fuller Road, to the Corning Preserve. This path would run alongside the Patroon Creek. Potential portions of this path can be seen just on the north side of I-90 east of Exit 4: the service road off Central Avenue between the I-90 bridge and the railroad bridge becomes a path that goes a substantial distance to the east. The eastern end of this path would connect to the Mohawk Hudson Bike Trail that runs from the Corning Preserve at downtown Albany north along the Hudson River to Cohoes, Niskayuna, Schenectady and well beyond.

From Fuller Road west, an existing paved path connects Fuller Road to the Pine Bush Preserve just west of the Albany Landfill, crossing under Rapp Road beside the Thruway ramp heading west from Exit 24 towards Buffalo. This little-used path could easily make a connection to Rapp Road itself, and then connect to the north and south service roads along Washington Avenue Extension, which in turn connect to Crossgates and Crossgates Commons.

However, the campus is cut off from the Patroon Path by I-90. The only nearby connection presently is along Fuller Road, through the intersection of Fuller Road and Washington Avenue Extension, one of the most congested and least pedestrian-friendly intersections in the Capital District.

One possibility to avoid the Fuller Road-WAE intersection might be to start a path at or south of Freedom Quad, run the path west to where the Northway crosses under Washington Avenue Extension, run the path under WAE next to the northbound Northway lanes (separated from the traffic by the bridge supports) then run the path along the north side of WAE to Fuller Road, and go under I-90 on the sidewalk on the west side of Fuller Road. This would then immediately connect to the Lake Rensselaer-Pine Bush path.

Another possibility to connect to the Patroon Path might be to run a path along the western edge of the Exit 3 ramp from I-90 to the State Police Academy. A tunnel or bridge across the ramp from I-90 eastbound might be necessary, however.

The main point is that the University should express a strong interest in a safe off-road connection between the campus and the Patroon Path/Lake Rensselaer-Pine Bush Path.

4. Crossgates, Crossgates Commons,

the Whitehall Road area, Delmar, etc.

Related to the Thruway Authority’s Albany Corridor Study, the Town of Guilderland’s Pathways Committee has proposed to the Thruway Authority the idea for a bike path along the southern edge of the Thruway ROW between Exits 25 and 23. The Thruway has expressed a willingness to consider the idea, but has said that initiative for such a path must come from NYSDOT and CDTC. CDTC is aware of the idea and there is a possibility that when more planning funds become available to CDTC (out of the successor to the TEA-21 federal transportation bill), it will support a feasibility study for such a path.

Such a bike path could connect to campus in any of three ways:

1. Via the Schoolhouse Road bridge, Strawberry Lane and an existing Town of Guilderland path connecting Abele Park on Strawberry Lane to McKown Road, then along McKown Road, and Norwood Street, crossing Western Avenue at the signalized intersection at Norwood Street, or
2. Via Krum Kill Road just west of Route 85, then through neighborhood streets and Hillcrest Avenue or Daytona Avenue to the Harriman Campus roadway, crossing Western Avenue at the signalized intersection at Hillcrest Avenue or at Daytona Avenue, or
3. Via Krum Kill Road just west of Route 85, then through neighborhood streets to Berkshire Boulevard and Hazelhurst Avenue, reaching the campus via Homestead Avenue and the UAB parking lot.

Such a Thruway path would connect to the Whitehall Road area via New Scotland Avenue, to Crossgates via a spur behind the McKownville Methodist Church, to Crossgates Commons directly, to the Pine Bush Preserve via the Rapp Road bridge connecting to the Lake Rensselaer-Pine Bush Preserve path (and directly, west of Route 155), and to the Fort Hunter area of Guilderland near Exit 25.

Albany County is actively pursuing the purchase of the old D & H Railroad ROW between Voorheesville and the Port of Albany for a rail trail. This rail trail would pass near Exit 23 and could easily connect to a Thruway bike path along the south side of the Thruway via the former Delaware Avenue bridge over the Normans Kill at Normanside. Thus the uptown campus could be connected to downtown Albany via a Thruway bike path and the D & H rail trail. This in turn could connect to the Mohawk-Hudson bike path along the Corning Preserve, to form with the Patroon Path a complete loop around the City of Albany. It would be very desirable to connect the uptown campus to this loop both towards the north and towards the south.

5. The East Campus

The Capital District Transportation Committee and the Hudson River Greenway are actively pursuing a path along the east side of the Hudson River between the Troy-Menands Bridge and the Rensselaer Railroad Station, not far from the East Campus. The Livingston Avenue Railroad Bridge is a possibility to connect this path to the path along the Corning Preserve. Thus the Thruway bike path and the Patroon Path both have the potential to help connect the uptown campus and the East Campus by off-road bike paths.

4/21/04