The main group met at 11:00 at the Latham '76 Diner, with a pre-meet group meeting at 9:30 at the Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail to view the Thruway bridge over the Normans Kill. The pre-meet group drove down the Delmar Bypass (NY 32) and the Slingerlands Bypass (NY 85) on the way to lunch.
Meet Tour
Our first stop was the Twin Bridges. We drove over Latham Circle and observed the SPUI before proceeding into Saratoga County. We then drove down local roads to the waterfront to see the Twin Bridges from ground level.
We went back into Albany County and headed to the Black Bridge rail trail across the Mohawk River onto Van Schaick Island. The bridge is on the same rail line that used to cross I-87 (original site no longer available).
We then headed down to Watervliet and crossed the Congress Street Bridge into Troy, observing the tunnel on NY 2 eastbound. We went up US 4 and passed by the Green Island Bridge and Hoosick Street under the Collar City Bridge (shown from the other side in the photo) and crossed back over. We took I-787 to NY 378, observing the short freeway connecting to the Troy-Menands Bridge, and too US 9 down to view the stub on the Mid-Crosstown Arterial. We took US 9 across the Dunn Memorian Bridge to view the stub, the circle interchange, and take the meet photo.
We then went back over the Dunn Memorial Bridge to view the South Mall Arterial under Empire State Plaza, which is actually aligned on what would have been frontage roads if the road had been completed to the Mid-Crosstown Arterial. We then went down I-90 deep into Rensselaer County to view the abandoned service plazas on the Berkshire Spur of the Thruway. The westbound abandoned service plaza is impressive. Though the main building has largely been demolished, its basement is still there (though flooded) and the pavement, sidewalks, and some floor tiles are still visible. The building for the gas station is still standing (though the gas pumps are gone).
We then drove back to the meet site, taking the Thruway to see the Castleton-on-Hudson Bridge, then I-787 thorugh downtown Albany, viewing the Adirondack Northway stub, Washington Avenue Extension and its interchange with Fuller Road, the abandoned rail line in the median of Railroad Avenue, and passing under Latham Circle.