The Town of Colonie recently held a meeting with residents to discuss the Sand Creek Road rehabilitation project, which is set to begin in the spring of 2014 and will be a complete overhaul of a portion of the road to deal with drainage issues.
The Town Hall meeting at the West Albany Fire Station on Tuesday, Dec. 10, described the different phases of the $1.8 million project, which is part of the town’s 2014 Capital Plan, and how it will affect residents.
“We know these issues for you are very, very important. We’ve talked to many of you over the phone or while stopping down, usually as we’re wading through the water during floods,” said Town of Colonie Supervisor Paula Mahan. “So we know this is a very important issue for you, and we want you to know we are moving forward.”
Jim Edwards of C.T. Male Associates has been working on the road rehabilitation project for more than a year and was at the town hall meeting to explain what was going to be done.
“The project is basically a full reconstruction of the road from the sub-base, right up through everything from sidewalks, utilities, the curbing … so what you see out there is going to be just a shadow of what it will look like in the future,” said Edwards.
The project will run 4,100 feet from Norbrick Road almost to Everett Road. There will be new water mains, hydrants and isolation valves installed so water can be shut off to individual house in the event of a problem.
The sidewalk will be five feet wide and made of porous concrete.
“The unique thing about porous concrete is that it will allow water to run off the lawns and driveways and percolate into the ground and also be treated and stored beneath the sidewalk and be stored in reservoirs,” said Edwards.
National Grid will be replacing 1,000 feet of cast iron gas lines that are outdated. This is not part of the project, but is being done to prevent issues in the future. Work on that project will take place from February to through March of 2014.
A section of 1,000 feet of the sanitary sewer line will be replaced to fix existing problems. The portion being replaced is a liquefied clay line that is old technology and isn’t pitched properly in some areas, which can cause the sewer to become backed up. The town has taken a lot of time to maintain the pipe, but officials said this is an opportune time to replace.
Fixing the sewer will make a detour necessary so the project can be finished as quickly as possible. The sewer line runs down the center of the road, and a lot of equipment is necessary to put it in properly. The traffic will be rerouted during construction hours only and will be redirected to Exchange Street. Throughout the project there will be lane closures.
“This a full construction season long project, we hope to break ground in April,” said Edwards. “We do expect it to take the entire construction season and have the project fully done by December.”