Malta to award $1M in engineering contracts for two roads

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

Luther Forest Technology Campus is pictured in September 2012.

The town of Malta is awarding nearly $1 million in engineering contracts for two major road projects that will take place this summer.

Creighton Manning Engineering of Albany is being awarded a $532,000 contract for designing and then overseeing construction of a new connector road to GlobalFoundries within the Luther Forest Technology Campus.

Meanwhile, the Chazen Group is being awarded a $397,000 contract to perform construction inspections when a controversial reconstruction of Round Lake Road with two roundabouts goes forward this summer.

The Luther Forest project involves building 0.7-mile connector road that will provide a second access to the main entrance of GlobalFoundries. The goal is to build the road this summer.

“It’s a very tight schedule,” said Town Comptroller Kevin T. King, who manages town contracts.

Officials with the town and the technology campus corporation hope the link between Cordero Boulevard and GlobalFoundries will relieve traffic pressure on Cold Springs Road and other town roads outside the campus.

The Round Lake Road project, meanwhile, calls for constructing roundabouts at the Raylinsky Road-Ruhle Road intersection west of Northway Exit 11, and also at the Chango Drive intersection.

The project, which also includes sidewalks, bike lanes and other road improvements, is intended to address growing traffic on the road over the next 10 years. Round Lake Road is seeing a large impact from new housing development taking place in the town of Ballston.

Some local residents, however, have opposed construction of the roundabouts. They have said that traffic lights would be safer for pedestrians crossing the road than roundabouts, which slow but do not stop traffic.

Town officials and their engineers, however, have concluded roundabouts are the safest overall alternative for those intersections.

King said the current schedule calls for construction to start in July, and be done by September. Construction contracts have not yet been awarded, but Chazen will be providing at least two full-time on-site inspectors.

Federal and state funds will be paying for both projects.