NYSDOT taking public input on reimagining I-787

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- For many who work in Downtown Albany, it may be hard to imagine their commute without I-787 as it is now. Advocates and lawmakers are proposing changes to the highway to create better access to green space and the waterfront, and the New York State Department of Transportation is listening.

Tuesday, hundreds of people packed into the MVP Arena for NYSDOT’s first-ever open house taking comments on the idea, as the department is in the midst of a $5.3 million study on what a new I-787 corridor may look like.

"Most people have said that they wanted to see a better connection to the riverfront, they want to see our neighborhoods reconnected, Downtown to the South End," said Derek Baranski, who contributes to the Albany Riverfront Collaborative, a group that has been developing proposals to reimagine the highway, "so it was really encouraging for the work that we do, and hopefully will guide the study that is ongoing with the Department of Transportation."

The ARC's redesign concepts include replacing 787’s lanes and ramps with a surface-level boulevard and reopening 4.2 miles of shoreline.

"Our goal is to have people be participants in the city. Right now, the highway behind us, the south mall arterial, goes directly to a parking structure," Baranski said, "so people, I once heard someone say, are coming to the city without getting any city on them."

"We will still need a major thoroughfare there, because we have the Albany Port that we've spent years investing in," said Assemblymember Patricia Fahy, who has been advocating for funds to look at a redesign of 787 for years, "so we still need a major thoroughfare. I'm not out to scare people."

The NYSDOT is still taking comments on the study, and you can send them via email to 787@dot.ny.gov