Exit 3 Finally Came to Be, Transforming Travel in New York's Capital Region

New York’s Adirondack Northway is a 176-mile section of I-87, known as the Northway, between Albany and the Canadian border. For decades, travelers on that route would wonder why there was not an Exit 3. The original interstate planning was to include Exit 3 as direct access to the Albany International Airport.

When the interstate was constructed in the late 1950s, there was a proposal to build another highway: an east-west connection between the airport, I-87 and I-90. The erection of a road sign stating that Exit 3 was to be built fostered the hopes of travelers, with the promise of progress so prevalent in those early days of interstate construction. Because of funding changes, that highway was not constructed. Eventually, the east-west highway proposal was removed from the New York State Capital District’s long-range highway plan in 1973, and the national interstate system plan in 1977. About the same time, the “Exit 3 to be built” sign unceremoniously disappeared as well, leaving modern-day travelers unfamiliar with the history to speculate on how well “upstaters” could count.

Now Exit 3 has become a reality with the completion of a long-awaited flyover from I-87 northbound to Albany Shaker Road and the airport. The Exit 3 project, which opened to traffic in November 2019, also reconstructed the Exit 4 interchange and added other new ramps, lanes and surrounding intersection improvements. Consideration was also given to the environment and surrounding neighborhoods, including traffic planning and a noise barrier. The project resulted in improved traffic flow to the airport and a 25 percent reduction in travel time on the major routes in the area.

This project illustrates the perseverance required to be a civil engineer and a highway designer. CHA Consulting, Inc. (CHA), was selected by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) in the late 1990s to perform the preliminary design studies necessary to navigate through an environmentally sensitive area that had experienced significant development in the 40 years since the original Northway planning.

CHA’s proposal included a computer-designed drive-through simulation, crude by today’s high-resolution computer simulations, but innovative at the time. Over the next two decades, with many starts, stops and noncommitments of funding, there was doubt that a solution could ever be developed and supported by the diverse stakeholders. However, the one constant over those decades was the need for improved mobility and access, and that only became greater over time.

Eventually, there were more than 50 concepts studied to determine their feasibility, potential environmental and community impacts, benefits and costs. Three alternatives were selected for full traffic evaluation and modeling, design and analysis for presentation in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). These included improvements of the existing Exit 4 as a diamond interchange, a single-point urban interchange and a modified flyover interchange. Even during these advanced alternative evaluations, the focus remained on Exit 4 solutions, with Exit 3 remaining but a dream.

Design of the alternatives included sufficient detail to determine roadway widths, bridge spans and widths, earthwork limits, right-of-way requirements, intersection geometry, pavement thickness, drainage layout and construction sequencing. Analysis within the EIS included wetland delineation and mitigation design, ecological studies and noise and air quality analyses. It also encompassed a farmland impact assessment, cultural resource studies, Section 4(f) and 6(f) analyses, hazardous materials and asbestos investigations and a visual impact assessment.

CHA also provided extensive traffic engineering services to evaluate the alternatives and determine the best option. These included origin-destination studies, traffic counts, queue studies, travel time-delay studies and metropolitan planning organization coordination for traffic forecasting. The services also entailed analyses for traffic operations, roundabout, traffic simulation modeling and crash history.

The project area involved diverse constraints. These ranged from extensive commercial development and the approach surface and safety area for the main runway at Albany International Airport, to extensive wetlands, farmland within an agricultural district and historic sites. The project progressed as a National Environmental Policy Act EIS under the Federal Highway Administration. Exit 3 was finally resurrected, once it was determined that the necessary improvements would require more than just one access location at I-87, given the existing development at Exit 4. The project involved reconstruction of the existing Exit 4 interchange and adding the long-missing I-87 Exit 3 interchange. Exit 3 would include direct Albany Shaker Road access to I-87 southbound, and from I-87 northbound via the long-promised flyover ramp. With the Exit 3 ramps now in the mix that accommodated the majority of I-87 traffic south of Albany Shaker Road, improvements to Exit 4 could be better scaled to fit within the existing constraints and primarily accommodate the I-87 traffic north of Albany Shaker Road. Exits 3 and 4 could work as a system to enhance mobility of the entire network. The project introduced a new auxiliary lane on I-87 northbound between Exits 4 and 5, a noise reduction wall and widening and intersection improvements on Albany Shaker Road from Wolf Road to the new I-87 ramps.

A multiuse path along Albany Shaker Road/ Dalessandro Boulevard, using porous pavement, was incorporated into the project to improve nonvehicular mobility. The porous pavement allowed rainwater to infiltrate the ground, reducing runoff and improving water quality. Additionally, the proposed removal of the existing collector-distributor ramp pavement between Exits 4 and 5 southbound removed over 85,000 square feet of impervious pavement and allowed reforestation of approximately one acre. This improved water quality, reestablished the natural ecosystem and reduced the carbon footprint. In this same area, a closed drainage was removed, and a natural streambed was established, further enhancing the ecosystem and natural habitat.

With a viable plan and stakeholder support, funding was secured, and the schedule accelerated. NYSDOT had primary responsibility for final design and development of contract plans and specifications. CHA assisted NYSDOT by providing design and contract plan development for wetland mitigation, storm drainage design, erosion and sediment control, stormwater management, landscaping and the noise barrier. The project received an Evergreen rating, the highest possible, within the NYSDOT Greenlights environmental rating program.

The construction was bid as two separate projects, both awarded to Lancaster Development, Inc., of Richmondville, NY, for $53 million. Once construction started, the work moved quickly with minimal disruption to travel in the area. Care was also given to the environment and surrounding neighborhoods, as evidenced by traffic planning, a noise barrier, wetland avoidance and extensive stormwater management. The project was substantially completed and in use before the end of 2019, months ahead of schedule.

The completed project improved traffic operations around the Northway/Albany International Airport area. It removed traffic from intersections that had high crash rates, while providing geometric improvements to those intersections. The design also focused on protecting the environment and was sensitive to surrounding neighborhoods and development. For drivers of the Adirondack Northway, the question of the missing Exit 3 was finally answered.