A new access to the Dave Clark Riverfront Path from Water Avenue was under construction Thursday.
Just east of the Lyon Street Bridge, contractors on Albany’s Waterfront Project this week began building a new access to the Dave Clark Path.
This is one of the new connections between Water Avenue and the riverfront path that replace crossings over the railroad track that were closed early in 2024.
There’s a difference of about 5 or 6 feet between the elevations of the path and the railroad track at this point. So this “connector trail,” as the design calls it, includes a set of steps.
It also includes a longer paved connection that covers the elevation difference without stairs by going sideways at a gradual slope from the rail crossing down to the path. That was necessary to accommodate people who can’t or don’t want to take stairs. It’s the portion illustrated in the photo at the top of this little story.
One of the crossings closed in last year’s rail portion of the Waterfront Project was directly underneath the Ellsworth Street Bridge. Riding my bike, that’s the crossing I usually took in winter and on rainy days to avoid the sometimes slippery timber planks of the boardwalk section of the path.
With the Ellsworth crossing gone and winter not far off, I’m looking forward to the completion of this new access a short distance farther east. (hh)
It would be nice if there was a bypass around the slippery timber boardwalk section of the path. There is an open area south of the boardwalk that could accommodate the path. The building that was blocking the way when the boardwalk was built has long ago been removed. Bypassing that slippery and confined boardwalk section would be safer for both pedestrians and bikers.