ALBANY, N.Y. – Senator Patricia Fahy (D—Albany) announced today the passage of legislation (S.4849 Fahy) she introduced requiring the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to conduct a traffic and planning study to determine the feasibility of transforming the eastern end of Albany’s Uptown Parking Lot District, the Harriman State Office Campus, in connection with the relocation of the Wadsworth Laboratory.

The $1.7 billion Wadsworth Laboratory consolidation project has the potential to serve as the key spark in leveraging more science and research investment in the Capital Region, investments that should be located within a transformed eastern Harriman Campus and fully integrated with the City of Albany.

In order to fully realize the potential of this investment, there is a need that an updated traffic and planning study to be commissioned to help transform the Eastern end of the Harriman Campus to help better connect and integrate the campus and the overall project into the City of Albany, while gaining additional acreage for mixed-use development, green space, and multi-modal transportation.

This legislation intends to ensure a 21st Century-economic development approach that will foster the growth of the regional economy and better integrate the surrounding community on the Harriman Campus. 

“I’m grateful that my colleagues in the State Senate have listened to our community and recognized the need to move beyond the design mistakes of the 1960s and finally begin to transform Albany’s Uptown Parking Lot District,” said New York State Senator Patricia Fahy (D—Albany). “New York’s $1.7 billion Wadsworth Labs project is the largest state investment in the Harriman Campus since its construction and represents an opportunity for a bolder, broader vision as part of this project. Ensuring that we’re limiting the number of surface-level parking spaces, reserving dedicated space for new housing stock and small businesses, and reconnecting the Campus with the surrounding neighborhoods must be critical components of this project moving forward.”

New York’s decision to relocate the Wadsworth Public Health Labs to the Harriman Office Campus was a result of years-long advocacy to ensure the laboratories remained in the City of Albany and broader Capital Region. Existing plans for the consolidation of the Wadsworth Health Labs include a dramatic expansion of parking spaces and no opportunities for mixed-use commercial, retail, and residential space, or Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). 

As the state seeks to redevelop the Wadsworth Public Health Labs, it should prioritize transportation planning and economic development on the Harriman Campus that can incubate businesses, provide new housing options to help address the local and statewide housing crisis, and collocate workers directly adjacent to the Harriman Campus.

Additionally, co-locating mixed-use commercial and residential space will assist in undoing the car-centric and transportation planning mistakes of the ‘60s, which culminated in the inclusion of Harriman’s ‘ring roads’ that direct traffic flow out of the City of Albany, rather than into it. 

A 2007 study completed by the Capital Region Transportation Council (CRTC), the Capital Region’s Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), called for mixed-use and residential development to complement a redesign of Harriman’s existing transportation grid, unlocking major economic development opportunities.

Sixty-three percent of the City of Albany’s properties are considered tax exempt, including the Harriman State Office Campus. Encouraging spinoff development on these acres can help to alleviate Albany’s unique tax burden as the state’s capital city. Finally, encouraging greater walkability and multi-modal transportation will reduce the need for additional parking spaces, stimulate the local economy, and incentivize private sector investment.

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