City accepting bids for Erie Boulevard project

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bethany Bump

The city is now soliciting bids for the large and long-anticipated Erie Boulevard project, which received final approval by the state Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration.

Mayor Gary McCarthy touted the project in a news release, calling it pivotal to the future of the city to fix Erie Boulevard.

“We expect this project to help us create opportunities for new jobs and new tax base along the section of Erie Boulevard to be renovated, which goes from I-890 to Union Street,” he said in the release.

Reconstruction is set to begin in May and completed by the end of 2013.

The project is expected to improve intersections for pedestrians, new striping at State, Liberty and Union streets, an island at the northeast corner of the Liberty Street intersection, and new traffic lights.

The construction phase of the project will cost $11 million, with 95 percent of that cost paid for with federal and state funds.

Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority Chairman Ray Gillen thanked McCarthy and the City Council for moving ahead with the project.

“With the official launch of this much awaited project, we can now look forward to finishing the redevelopment of downtown,” said Gillen in the release. “The old Erie Boulevard was a stumbling block; the new Erie will help us attract more investment and jobs to our resurgent downtown.”