SCHENECTADY — The Kings Road Bridge will be shuttered beginning Monday as the city launches a long-planned full replacement of the aging structure.
The bridge, which was built in 1960 and was most recently renovated in 1992, will be closed through the summer as the city completes a replacement project for the current span, which was deemed structurally deficient in 2017.
The Schenectady City Council approved a $5.3 million bid from Winn Construction Services of Waterford for the replacement project in May, with the city set to receive up to 95% federal reimbursement for the construction work.
Electronic signs have been posted north and south of the bridge on Kings Road informing the public that the bridge will be shuttered Monday.
Motorists will be rerouted to detours along Highbridge Road in Rotterdam, Albany Street, Route 7 and Interstate 890 while the bridge work is ongoing.
“It will create a little bit of inconvenience for residents and individuals who use that roadway,” Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy said during the city council meeting on Monday evening. “Some of the signs are up today [Monday] informing the public of the detour routes. We look forward to having it completed and it’ll be open before everybody knows it.”
McCarthy said following Monday’s meeting that the new bridge is expected to be completed by the end of the summer.
Woodlawn residents Kevin Brown and Tracey Collins raised the alarm about speeding issues along Kings Road at city council meetings throughout 2023, with Collins telling the city administration that speeding cars damaged the homeowners’ property at the intersection of Kings Road and Philomena Boulevard on several occasions.
In response to the residents’ concerns, the city recently installed crosswalks across Kings Road and Philomena Boulevard, as well as flashing lights across the Kings Road crosswalk that can be activated by pedestrians via a button on each side of the roadway.
The city has also installed a metal guardrail outside Collins’ property to protect the home from wayward vehicles.
Collins said Tuesday that the measures the city has implemented so far have contributed to slowing down cars on Kings Road, with the resident expecting that the upcoming bridge closure will also help reduce the amount of speeding drivers on the road.
“We’re hoping with the bridge being closed that it will slow down the traffic even more,” Collins said. “We’ve still got speeding on the road, but it seems to be improving. Things have been much better.”
Collins had previously installed a series of large boulders on his lawn to prevent his home from being struck by a car.
“We’re hoping, come spring, that if we see improvement with the guardrail that we can slowly remove them,” Collins said of the boulders. “That’s my goal, come spring.”
Collins and Brown have requested on multiple occasions for the city to install additional stop signs or lower the speed limit along Kings Road.
The city council has weighed the possibility of lowering the speed limit along Kings Road from 30 mph down to 25 mph, with a city traffic study from traffic engineer Fred Mastroianni in September recommending that the speed limit not be lowered on the road.