Schenectady County Announces Completion of Nott Street Safety Improvement Project

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — Schenectady County announced that the safety improvements to Nott Street near Balltown Road have been completed. Construction began in March and finished over a month earlier than anticipated.

“Community involvement was key to the transformation of our beloved Nott Street business corridor into a safer and more inviting space,” said Schenectady County Legislator Michelle Ostrelich. “We engaged business and building owners, who have first-hand experience with what issues they and their customers faced, and incorporated their ideas into the final design to maximize both safety and parking spaces.”

Schenectady County was awarded a federal grant from the Highway Safety Improvement Program for the design and construction of the safety improvements near the intersection of Nott Street and Balltown Road in the Town of Niskayuna in December of 2016. The Highway Safety Improvement is a core federal-aid program that provides funding for safety projects on any publicly owned roadway to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes.

“We would like to thank the Nott Street businesses, the Town of Niskayuna, and our community for their partnership and patience with this project from the design phase through the four phases of construction,” said Schenectady County Legislator Cathy Gatta. “We know how important this business corridor is to the neighborhood and the town, so we worked with the contractor to minimize the disruption to businesses and shoppers while work was underway.”

The final design includes five-foot wide sidewalks on both sides of the street, removal of steps in the sidewalk closest to the buildings, angled parking with a raised curb to separate parked cars from traffic lanes, clear parking pattern requiring one-way entrance and forward-facing exit from the angled parking spots, an additional crosswalk as well as improved visibility for the crosswalks, and relocation of the bus stop.

“This project affects so many businesses and residents, so we wanted to make sure it was done right,” said Schenectady County Legislator Sara Mae Pratt. “Wider sidewalks, curb cuts, and an additional crosswalk create a safer and more accessible area for all businesses and members of the community.”

Project Background
During the preliminary design of this project in the spring of 2019, the County, with the assistance of engineering consultants, met with representatives from affected businesses and held a public meeting at Niskayuna Town Hall. Further design modifications were made after careful consideration of the comments received and numerous additional follow-up meetings.
Legislators from District 3 met with business owners, town leaders and neighbors throughout the process to ensure the needs of the community were addressed in the final design while still focusing on vehicle and pedestrian safety.

Funding
The total project cost, including design, inspection and construction is $1,534,162. Final project costs are still being calculated but are expected to be within the budgeted amount.

• Metroplex is contributing $250,000 of the construction costs;
• The federal government is reimbursing 90% of the remaining project costs;
• NYS is reimbursing 7.5% of the remaining project costs; and
• Schenectady County will cover the remaining share.