CHAMPIONING
CONNECTIONS
The Capital Region has SO MANY great concepts in studies and plans sitting on the shelf. Did you know we have a Regional Trails Plan? If half of what has been identified in the Albany's Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan or Troy's Bicycle Connections Plan was implemented, our communities would be dramatically safer, more vibrant, and family friendly.
Instead, plans like these mostly collect dust. Implementation has its challenges- infrastructure is expensive, there are a lot of competing priorities, and championing change can be daunting for government- but as a region, we need to make progress. Our region needs to prioritize bringing these ideas from paper to reality to deliver the quality of life improvements our communities need and deserve.
Our streets impact everything. Where you go and how you get there. How you spend your money and who gets it. How your time is spent- how enjoyable or frustrating your day is. Streets have major impacts on how healthy our communities are, from the air we breathe, to how much exercise we get, and our mental well being. They impact how how resilient our neighborhoods are to extreme heat and storms. They're one of the most important things our communities can focus on, yet they're often seen as big driveways to just keep repaving
At Capital Streets, we've been outspoken about the need to maximize on opportunities for the redesign and redevelopment of the roadways. You may have seen our critiques of certain projects, when things aren't going in the right direction. Hopefully you've joined us in celebrating others projects that will deliver major improvements for our communities. While we'll continue to work to keep the community informed, we are also proud to be in a position to foster collaboration and champion progress in our own right, starting with the Campus Connector Trail Project.
If you have any questions about Capital Streets’ efforts to Champion Connections in the Capital District, please email james@capitalstreets.org or kyle@capitalstreets.org
CAMPUS CONNECTOR TRAIL
The Campus Connector Trail will connect UAlbany to RPI and several key destinations in between, with a network of safe, comfortable infrastructure. This project will build off of concepts previously identified in the Regional Trails Plan, Albany's and Troy's bike-ped plans, and several other studies over more than a decade. The Campus Connector will connect thousands of residents across Albany and Rensselaer County to some of our region's most important destinations, including Downtown Albany, Troy, and Rensselaer, Albany Medical Center, the State Harriman Campus, Lincoln Park, the Rensselaer Tech Park, and several of the region's biggest higher education centers. It includes a direct connection between the City of Rensselaer and South Troy, with a new, multi-use trail.
Our focus is on taking these ideas, across several documents and municipal boundaries, and getting this project to implementation. We are submitting an application for funding pre-construction planning, to determine the final route, work with government agencies and advance agreements with private land owners, conduct environmental assessments, determine costs, and identify funding opportunities for implementation
We're hopeful this application will be successful, but know these opportunities are very competitive. We are proud to have garnered the support of several governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations for the Campus Connector Trail, including Rensselaer County, the City of Albany, UAlbany, the Trust for Public Land, Parks & Trails New York, and several others. We are very grateful for the support from Senator Fahy, Senator Ashby, Assemblymember McDonald, and Assemblymember Romero for the project.
Getting the Campus Connector built will take years, and we may need to apply for another opportunity if our application isn't successful this time around. Regardless, Capital Streets is proud to be committed to advancing this crucial connection for the community. We're excited to share more about our vision for the region and be playing a bigger role in shaping progress.
More info to come!