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THE CHALLENGE
Delaware Avenue between Elsmere Avenue and the City of Albany is a heavily traveled state road through the heart of Elsmere. Unfortunately, it has several serious problems.
THE SOLUTION
The Delaware Avenue Complete Streets Project is designed to address these problems by building on lessons learned by state DOTs across the country with a modern design to make Elsmere’s Main Street safer for cars, safer for people, and better for business.
In October, 2016, the Town Board heard a presentation about redesigning Elsmere’s Main Street using national complete streets standards. In 2017, the Town began the big-picture planning process which included:
The core product of this planning effort was the Delaware Avenue Complete Streets Feasibility Study. The study included analyses of traffic operations and crashes, and assessment of four potential lane designs.
WHAT’S NEXT
In December, 2017, the Town Board considered the findings of the study and input from residents and businesses, and voted to move forward with the complete streets project. In 2019, the Town was awarded a federal grant for $2.91 million to complete design work and to cover a portion of the construction costs. The State DOT has also committed $1.56 million for paving. The Town will only have to cover 20% ($728,000) of the $5.2 million total cost for the 1.3 mile long project.
Design work for the project will begin in 2020. Construction is projected to begin in late 2021 or in 2022, depending on the State DOT’s statewide paving schedule.