All Over Albany

Gondolas! Skyways! Flyovers! Oh, my....

... said Bob on Aug 15, 2018 at 12:29 PM | link

When is the government in the city of Albany going to start addressing the clear infrastructure problems that exist:

- You can't drive more than 1/10 of a mile on the majority of streets in the city without hitting a suspension damaging pothole. Just go check out New Scotland Ave. and Hackett. Maybe the one strong exception is the newly paved portions of Madison.

- The sewers system is in distress. It rains parts of the city gets flooded. We have sinkholes being created due to un-maintained, maybe unchecked infrastructure, remember when one swallowed a person's SUV?

- I think the city owe's it to its citizens how its going to start addressing these problems, with a comprehensive report, based on facts.

- I also think the city owe's it to its citizens to share if events like Alive at 5, are actually making the city money at the end of the day, and if its not, I think Alive at 5 should be put on hold for a few years, so we can spend the money on making sure people's basements don't flood. Because their won't be anyone attending the concerts in a few years when everyone's car is getting trapped in sinkholes, and they are bailing out their basements, and at the auto repair shop getting new suspension parts put in, nor will they have the money to buy things from the businesses that are supposed to benefit from the added foot traffic.

... said John B. on Aug 15, 2018 at 1:30 PM | link

@John

1. Potholes exist in every municipality that has a freeze/thaw cycle. Albany is by no means the worst city in this regard. We can always strive to do better but potholes are a fact of life in this region. We should encourage people to report them on See Click Fix.

2. Sewer infrastructure is replaced as needed. It is impossible and ludicrously expensive to replace it all at once. There is no real way to "monitor" for sinkholes before they happen. The city is building an additional facility to handle sewer load in Lincoln Park as we speak. You should look into why sewer systems flood in heavy storms and what can be done to alleviate that. Albany, as an older city, has a Combined Sewer System Here is the plan to fix it: https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/95122.html

3. Sure and I think you may find that they do if you are looking.

4. The economic benefit that Alive at 5 and similar events provide to local businesses are certainly worth the costs. To say that "everyone" has cars getting trapped in sinkholes and flooded basements is pretty ridiculous and not productive conversation.

... said Sean on Aug 15, 2018 at 3:28 PM | link

@Sean

I don't want to start a conversation on here like our mayor did with the APD, but I will respond to your comments in hopes that it improves things.

1. Yes, potholes do exist, I am disappointed the measure of success is "the worst city in this regard". I have reported several potholes on Click Fix. I reported one pothole on May 29th, which was assigned to DGS three months ago and still has not been fixed.

Additionally, I reported a sidewalk repair that was needed as it represents a clear tripping hazard, especially to the blind person that lives on my block that requires a seeing eye dog to get around, this was also assigned to DGS three months ago and has not been addressed.

2. Its disappointing to hear the best policy with the sewer infrastructure is waiting for something bad to happen. It seems like there has to be a better pro-active approach. Can't the city camera lines and create a database of lines that have issues and schedule them up for replacement?

4. Where is the data to show the economic benefit?

... said John B. on Aug 16, 2018 at 9:52 AM | link