Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

Old Elmira Road Project Photos

September 26, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Vitale Contractors has been working away on the Old Elmira Complete Streets project, excavating old stormwater drains, and installing new piping and precast concrete vaults, and backfilling with new stone. The new stormwater infrastructure has made it past the halfway point, and once complete, we should expect to see sidewalk and curbing forms lining the north side of the street.

The $1.3m Old Elmira Road Complete Streets Project is being funded with a $680,000 grant from the Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council, sidewalk assessments as determined by the new Sidewalk Policy (paid by the property owners), and the remaining sum from the City of Ithaca.

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Old Elmira Road Complete Streets Project Mobilized

September 9, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The Old Elmira Road Complete Streets project has Vitale Contractors mobilized along the north side to excavate the side of the road and install new sewer, precast concrete manhole vaults, backfill with stone, and install curbing and new concrete sidewalks.  Trees have been cleared along the shopping plaza east entrance and excavation has begun at the southwest end, and will continue northeast until the traffic circle.

 
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The Commons Project Finishing Next Spring, A Look at Another Pedestrian Mall

September 2, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

As announced a few weeks ago, the Commons Rebuild Project has hit another set of delays with NYSEG utility work, and won’t be completed until next Spring. While the news is certainly a bummer, the deck should be paved with concrete by early November, so I look forward to the center section being opened-up again for pedestrians.

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Pedestrian malls are quite uncommon (and not always successful) in the US nowadays, so on a recent trip to Charlottesville, Virginia (college town of the University of Virginia), I visited the Historic Downtown Mall. Charlottesville’s pedestrian mall is sizeable (seven blocks), highly successful, and it’s easy to see why: it’s in the dead-center of town, which is not far from UVA’s campus, and is anchored at one end by a large hotel and conference center (The Omni Charlottesville), Regal Theater, and the other by a public pavilion for outdoor events (the nTelos Wireless Pavillion), Downtown Transit Hub, City Hall, and Visitor’s Center.

The major blemish here is a failed hotel project: the Landmark Hotel, which was to be opened by now, but stalled back in late 2008 when the construction lender folded, the borrower defaulted on payment, then the FDIC took over, then the bank was officially dissolved, and now the property has been bought by another developer, but the City is claiming that the building is unsafe, so construction has not resumed. The original developer is CNET-founder Halsey Minor (see how to blow a fortune).

In any case, I was thoroughly-impressed by the place: large movable planters, sprawling open dining areas, plenty of lighting, directory signs on each block, brick and concrete pavers, and cross-streets allowing traffic fit well here. Charlottesville, like Ithaca, is a big tourist destination, so the retail mix was similar, and certainly loaded with restaurants and cafés. It was hard not feeling envious, but with any luck, Ithaca’s new mall will wrap-up in time for next summer. If you’re ever down in Hooville, it’s worth checking-out:

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The Landmark Hotel project:

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The Pavilion:

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Commons Rebuild Update & Phasing

May 14, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

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The Ithaca Commons Rebuild Project Team gave a presentation this morning on the phasing for this Summer and Fall (Phase 3), as the paving and the bulk of the remaining work wraps up this November. Michael Kuo, the Project Manager has agreed to share slides from the meeting that help to explain the rest of the project.

As was reported in the news and at the meeting, the team was able to value engineer certain portions of the project in order to re-integrate the gateway structures, and playground, which is being designed by Play by Design, a local firm specializing in custom playgrounds that has built hundreds of projects throughout the world. The City of Ithaca has agreed to install the mechanical vault and run plumbing lines for the future water feature, which is expected to attract donor funding to build at a point in the future.

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In the last six weeks since work resumed in earnest, the telecom mains and services have been run, along with water service upgrades that have involved digging-up and connecting the mains to water, fire sprinkler system lines, and telecom piping into each building (commonly called “laterals”). Once connected, the piping is tested and then the old services disconnected and taken out. The crews have averaged about 2-3 each day.

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A new electric duct bank is currently being installed by NYSEG, along with a new gas main, replacing the old galvanized steel gas piping with high density polyethylene yellow gas pipe (HDPE), a similar material to plastic bottles actually, but much stronger. After the gas main section is replaced on the 200 Block’s north side, NYSEG will then cut open and replace the lines on the south sides of both blocks, then back around the northern side of the 100 Block from the west.

 

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As the underground utilities are completed in each wing of the Commons, the paving program will begin in July, as crews will grade and prep surfaces for pouring a concrete base, on top of which, the concrete surface pavers will be set for the final walkable layer. Because the concrete can be poured section by section, and dry time is relatively fast for concrete, the surfaces will be opened-up to pedestrian traffic, starting with Bank Alley, then the east 200 Block, and west 100 Block.

Per each wing, the concrete base is poured, then pavers set, which should take about 3-4 weeks in each phase
Phase 1: Bank Alley (mid-June to late June)
Phase 2: 200 Block (late July, possibly August)
Phase 3: 100 Block (starting in October)

 

Here’s the phasing for the Bank Alley wing:

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Scenes from the last few weeks:

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Traffic Signals, Signage, Curb Ramps & Marking Upgrades for Five Downtown Intersections

March 21, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The City of Ithaca has released a bid request for the replacement of five traffic signals, including the installation of new mast arm traffic signals and appurtenances, new sidewalk curb ramps and connections to existing sidewalks, intersection pavement milling and resurfacing, and new pavement markings. The bidding has officially opened this week, and bids will be accepted until April 9th, then read aloud at the Board of Public Works Meeting (probably the 14th). Once the contract is awarded, and notice is given to proceed, the full scope of work must be completed within 85 days, so the target completion will probably land in this summer, perhaps July or August.

Images from the plans along with maps embedded below:

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Aurora Street and East State Street Intersection:

 

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Cayuga Street and West State Street Intersection:

 

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North Aurora Street and East Court Street Intersection:

 

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North Cayuga Street and Court Street Intersection:

 

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North Tioga Street and East Court Street Intersection:

 

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Commons Rebuild Phase Three Begins this Week

March 11, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

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As was announced in the Ithaca Times, the Commons Rebuild Phase Three is a go, with work starting this week. Phase Three of the Commons Rebuild will focus on the demolition of the remaining concrete surfaces, installation of new pavers, and installation of surface amenities (see earlier posts for more detail: Part One, and Part Two here). The Power & Construction Group (out of Scottsville, NY) was awarded the electrical work contract, and will begin work by transitioning to a temporary lighting system, as the current pole lights are removed to prepare the edge strips in front of businesses for demolition. NYSEG will be on site to finish-up a new gas main, and Vacri Construction (out of Binghamton, NY) is back for phase three as the only bidder and recipient of the general contract. The general bid came in at $2 million over-budget, which includes the reductions in three project scope addendums. Some original design items have been removed from the project:

Items that have been removed:
-Entrance Gateways
-Granite Pavers for fill sections
-Water Feature
-Playground

Items still included:
-Bernie Milton Pavilion
-Benches, Planters, Tables & Chairs, Bike Racks, & various standard surface amenities

Common Council approved a resolution at their meeting on February 19th to fund the amount, and the Board of Public Works accepted the contract at their meeting on February 24th.

Addendum Two Material & Finish Changes:
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Final Concrete Paver Layout:
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Dey & Third Streets Crossing Improvements

January 22, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Crossing improvements for Third Street and Dey Street, along with a connection to the existing Cayuga Waterfront Trail have been in the works, and may commence as soon as this Spring or Summer. Here are the drawings from Fisher Associates for work to be completed, and a map for reference.

The City of Ithaca Board of Public Works authorized a final item last November (to acquire and compensate for necessary real property) to move the project forward, and is expected to release a bid request this month or next, February 2014.

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Third Street crossing at Carpenter Circle, Third Street Extension, and the Cayuga Waterfront Trail:
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Connection to existing Cayuga Waterfront Trail:
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Third Street crossing Route 13:
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Dey Street crossing Route 13:
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State & Mitchell Intersection Lighting

January 5, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The crossing lights and automobile signalling lights have been installed on each of the poles, but the signalling sequences have yet to be programmed, and thus, the intersection is still an all-way stop- however, both lanes heading into the City on Mitchell Street have been opened-up for a few weeks now. The project contract sum is $342,677, awarded to Binghamton Road Electric, LLC (Bothar Construction), out of Binghamton, NY. $150,000 of the cost is being paid for by Cornell University, through the Cornell/Community Transportation Initiative.

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State & Mitchell: Light Poles Installed, Lights to Come

November 26, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

The State & Mitchell Intersection now has poles installed for the future traffic lights at this crossroad of over 17,000 vehicles per day. The temporary all-way stop has generated some backed-up traffic for the past few months, especially during rush hours, but it looks as if the lights will be installed within a month.

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Ithaca’s Walkability

November 17, 2013 // by Jason Henderson

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As Ithacans are well aware, one of the key advantages to living in Ithaca is its walkability. Proximity to groceries, pharmacy, work, etc. make downtown a convenient place to live, and one of the most common tools to measure this metric is the Walk Score® algorithm. Walk Score® uses several geographic data sources (primarily Google Maps/Places) to feed a formula that determines Walk Score ranking from 0 to 100 (0 being least walkable, 100 being most walkable). The more amenities within the immediate area (.25 mile radius accounting for street geography and various obstacles), the higher the Walk Score ranking. Although I couldn’t get the raw data from Walk Score®, I was able to get a heat map for Ithaca showing the walkability, and the average Walk Score ranking for the City of Ithaca’s roughly 30,000 inhabitants. Here’s how we compare with the major US cities with high Walk Score rankings:

From Walk Score’s Most Walkable Cities in the US

#1 New York with an 87.6
#2 San Francisco with an 83.9
#3 Boston with a 79.5
#4 Philadelphia with a 76.5
#5 Miami with a 75.6

Commuting-mode to work is also a very important metric. As shown in the chart below, based on the 2006-2010 American Community Survey, the City of Ithaca boasts a 41% share of walking to work (charts from the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council). Tompkins County as a whole has a very high walking ratio compared to the rest of the nation, as noted in a New York Times article a couple years ago- 15.1% of Tompkins County commuters walk to work, compared with a national average of 3.5%. On average nationwide, walking, cycling, and public transportation are vastly overshadowed by the private automobile.