Rochester Area Bridge Replacements

[webny99]

The backups on I-490 have been extra-bad the past few days, likely due to state fair traffic, and made worse tonight by a steady rain moving through the area.

I-490 WB was as bad as I've ever seen it, with both thru lanes backed up over the NY 96 overpass. There was also considerable traffic using the exit only lane, but fortunately they seemed to be using Exit 27 or merging left early. I noticed NYSDOT added about a dozen large construction cones to the Exit 27 gore area, presumably to prevent people cutting in from the exit only lane, and that seems to have been effective: despite losing about 10 minutes in traffic, there were no line-cutters for the last ~half-mile, and the merge was surprisingly orderly and smooth.

[Rothman]

The backups on I-490 have been extra-bad the past few days, likely due to state fair traffic, and made worse tonight by a steady rain moving through the area.

I-490 WB was as bad as I've ever seen it, with both thru lanes backed up over the NY 96 overpass. There was also considerable traffic using the exit only lane, but fortunately they seemed to be using Exit 27 or merging left early. I noticed NYSDOT added about a dozen large construction cones to the Exit 27 gore area, presumably to prevent people cutting in from the exit only lane, and that seems to have been effective: despite losing about 10 minutes in traffic, there were no line-cutters for the last ~half-mile, and the merge was surprisingly orderly and smooth.

I find it hard to believe that traffic on I-490 would be that affected by the State Fair, especially on weekdays.

[webny99]

The backups on I-490 have been extra-bad the past few days, likely due to state fair traffic, and made worse tonight by a steady rain moving through the area.
...

I find it hard to believe that traffic on I-490 would be that affected by the State Fair, especially on weekdays.

Not massively impacted, but noticeably. The days of the State Fair are typically among the busiest travel days of the year on the Thruway between Rochester and Syracuse, including on weekdays respectively.

[webny99]

I noticed that as well and had the very fleeting thought that perhaps they could be adding auxiliary lanes from Exit 26 to Exit 27 (I wish!). But the two bridges being replaced are the only ones that would need widening for that to happen, so it is theoretically possible, and it would make a lot of things about the project make a lot more sense.

The plans do show three lanes each way across both bridges, but they're labeled as acceleration/deceleration lanes.  The plans are pretty limited just to the bridges, so how long they'd be or whether there are plans to tie them in to exit 26 are unclear.  That said, I was wondering why there would be a third year of construction (since normally it's one year for one side and then the second for the other), so maybe that's what the third year is?

By the way, I dug into the project documents this week and confirmed that while both bridges will be three lanes each way, the third lane is accel/decel only and will taper just north of the canal. Bummer because auxiliary lanes would be great here, but this is still a noteworthy improvement, especially westbound.

Also the reason for the third construction season was for some of the pre-work that couldn't all be done this year, notably the tree clearing and re-grading on the eastbound side to accommodate the temporary widening.

[vdeane]

Also the reason for the third construction season was for some of the pre-work that couldn't all be done this year, notably the tree clearing and re-grading on the eastbound side to accommodate the temporary widening.

Except not, since that's work that was done last year.  So we still have the question of what's being done in 2027, since construction isn't expected to be complete until 9/1/2027.  So if 2024 is pre-construction, 2025 is EB, and 2026 is WB, what is 2027?

[webny99]

Also the reason for the third construction season was for some of the pre-work that couldn't all be done this year, notably the tree clearing and re-grading on the eastbound side to accommodate the temporary widening.

Except not, since that's work that was done last year.  So we still have the question of what's being done in 2027, since construction isn't expected to be complete until 9/1/2027.  So if 2024 is pre-construction, 2025 is EB, and 2026 is WB, what is 2027?

That was also mentioned somewhere in the project meeting or one of the amendment documents. Because the 2026 schedule is so tight, the bidders/contractors requested to push some of the final wrap-up (I think mostly temporary pavement removal and final striping on the eastbound side) into early 2027. But the bridge work should be done by the end of 2026.

I did submit a project comment that the temporary widening should be kept permanent to provide auxiliary lanes, but I'm obviously not expecting anything this late in the process.

[vdeane]

Also the reason for the third construction season was for some of the pre-work that couldn't all be done this year, notably the tree clearing and re-grading on the eastbound side to accommodate the temporary widening.

Except not, since that's work that was done last year.  So we still have the question of what's being done in 2027, since construction isn't expected to be complete until 9/1/2027.  So if 2024 is pre-construction, 2025 is EB, and 2026 is WB, what is 2027?

That was also mentioned somewhere in the project meeting or one of the amendment documents. Because the 2026 schedule is so tight, the bidders/contractors requested to push some of the final wrap-up (I think mostly temporary pavement removal and final striping on the eastbound side) into early 2027. But the bridge work should be done by the end of 2026.

I did submit a project comment that the temporary widening should be kept permanent to provide auxiliary lanes, but I'm obviously not expecting anything this late in the process.

At this point, I'm wondering how they'll even get the eastbound bridges done this year.  At least as of a week ago, they hadn't even laid down the steel for the Erie Canal bridge yet.

[webny99]

(Editor's note: I changed the thread title to "Rochester Area Bridge Replacements" to widen the scope of this thread instead of creating another similar thread)

I've been noticing some preconstruction work on I-590 in the vicinity of Exit 2 for the upcoming bridge replacement project that's expected to begin next year. Most notably, the southbound Exit 2A off ramp was temporarily closed and reconstructed to add a second left turn lane. Suspecting this done was to accommodate a long-term closure of Exit 2B, I dug into the project documents, and my suspicion was confirmed. Both southbound loop ramps will be closed and used as staging areas for the next two construction seasons. However, with the caveat of Exit 2A being widened to accommodate more traffic, both loops are technically redundant, so all possible turn movements at this interchange will still be possible throughout the project.

A few other project notes:
Northbound bridge work will be done in 2026 with two lanes per direction maintained on the existing southbound bridges.
Southbound bridge work will be done in 2027 with two lanes per direction maintained on the new northbound bridges.
NY 31 and Allens Creek Rd will remain open except for short term overnight closures.
It was deemed infeasible to close the NY 31 to I-590 NB on-ramp so it will remain open throughout the NB Allens Creek Rd deck replacement and shifted in phases as work is completed.

Fortunately, this will not overlap with the lane reduction on I-490 at the Canal/Kreag Rd which would have made a bad traffic situation in Pittsford even worse. I think traffic on I-590 should otherwise be manageable here despite the lane reduction. Honestly, it could even reduce northbound rush hour congestion as the heavily used on-ramp from NY 31 will add a third lane instead of having to merge. Southbound is more a question of how Exit 2A holds up with the added traffic, which is a lot. The temporary lane closure this summer was problematic during morning rush hour, but once Exit 2B is closed traffic patterns will be more favorable with less thru traffic through the work zone - so it should be fine as long as three lanes are maintained up to Exit 2A, but I'm not counting on it given the way the I-490 lane closure was handled.