Final poster for Siena-Hudson Greenway Project

Initial connection (Idea) of Siena-Hudson greenway Project

This is the initial Idea of the Siena-Hudson Greenway Project. It displays the connection between Siena College and St. Agnes cemetery, which will be a walking path for students and local residents to use. The red line on the map displays the connection between Siena and the Park behind the Town of Colonie's Supervisors office. There is a lake located back there in which a path will be constructed for people to walk/hike on.

Sidewalks Map for Siena-Hudson Greenway Project

I finished one of my maps for the Siena-Hudson Greenway Project. It displays the sidewalks that are needed to create a walking path between Siena College -- St. Agnes cemetery and Menands, Siena College -- Newton Plaza. The Hashed lines show the areas where sidewalks are needed where the solid line shows where sidewalks already exist.

Project proposal Part Duex

Introduction

The Siena-Hudson greenway project is something that I've personally been working on since sophomore year at Siena. It began in Dr. Johnson's Environmental Policy class, where we did the initial research, finding out if the project was actually plausible.This project is meant to make a connection between Siena College and the Hudson river. The goals of the greenway project are as follows: 1) Physically link Siena College and the Rt. 9 corridor with the Village of Menands, City of Watervliet, and the Rt. 32/ Broadway corridor through a network of existing green spaces and new bike paths.2) Have Siena classrooms and students involved in the planning and revitalization process of the Rt. 32 / Broadway St. corridor by promoting sound environmental policy options and practices. 3) Generate several reciprocal service-learning partnerships between Siena College and stakeholders within the SHGP boundary through the office of Academic Community Engagement. (Courtesy of Tim Golden, Class of 2013)

Objectives

My objectives for this project are to map bike routes and walking paths in the local Albany Rural and St. Agnes Cemeteries. I will be in charge of creating a path between Siena and the various cemeteries, while also mapping out the sidewalks to and from the cemeteries. I will also be in charge of creating a pathway that runs along Rt. 9, and also connecting Siena to Newton Plaza and the Town of Colonie’s Supervisor’s office. After sitting down and talking with my client, we agreed that the best course of action to take regarding this project is to initially design a 'connector' between Siena College and the St. Agnes Cemetery. This would include mapping out where broken sidewalks are located, and where more sidewalks need to be implicated.

Methodology

Completing this project will consist of me physically walking the area needed, surveying the location and taking GPS points throughout. I will have to then graph the points on a map using a specific computer program and then predict the next logical step for linking all of the areas. I will utilize a plethora of sources to complete this project for my client. Google maps will be used to initially map out the area for the project. Also, both Arc GIS software and ArcMap software will be used to map out the final portion of the project.

Progress
I am having a difficult time getting started on this project, but i feel confident that I can begin to move forward after meeting with my client. I now know what he is looking for as far as the maps, and I am ready to take control of this project.  

Initial Map for GIS project

Initial Map for GIS project

Each line on this map is a projected pathway for the Siena-Hudson Greenway project.

• The orange line is a 1 mile stretch of road along Rt. 9 in Latham that is proposed to connect Siena College and Newton Plaza (a nearby shopping outlet). 

• The red line is a 2 mile stretch of roads that is projected to connect Siena College and the Albany Rural cemetery where there is already bike paths and walking paths.

• There is also a proposal to repair the sidewalks on a 1 mile stretch of Spring Street in Latham (shown by the light blue line)

• Another proposal for the Siena-Hudson Greenway project is the connection of Siena and a park behind the Town of Colonie's Supervisors office (to the west of Siena). There is a pond in the back and a proposed walking trail around the pond.

**Bike routes and walking paths have already been created in the cemetery, so one of the next logical steps would be to connect the college, and some of the surrounding area, to these paths. **

Benefits of these path connections:

• Rt. 9 Path- The greenway would increase safety for students walking to local shopping destinations, would provide for easy access by bicycle to these destinations, and would potentially ease Route 9 traffic congestion by reducing conflicting uses. The design of the greenway can also enhance the aesthetics of the Route 9 corridor, and provide additional stormwater benefits.
• Spring Street Path -The goal of the proposal is to complete the sidewalk from Siena College to East Ridge Road. This will make any travel by either walking or bicycling much more safe for people moving between the residential area to Siena Campus since at the moment there are part where the sidewalk isn't present requiring pedestrians to use the shoulder of the road.
• Park and Pond Behind Town of Colonie's Supervisors office -  An underutilized park, open space, and network of primitive nature trails exists behind the Colonie Town Hall. Access to the park and trails from the Siena College campus is difficult. Establishment of a corridor would increase access and use not only from the campus community but also from local neighborhoods to the east of Route 9.
• Fixing the Hiking paths at the Park and Pond Behind Town of Colonie's Supervisors office - The park we are working with is seemingly incomplete. At one point a walking path ends in the middle of an open field when it could easily be extended to the parking lot, which would make the park extremely more beneficial to citizens. Also there lies a pond at the front of the park that could use more accessibility. We propose a walking path all the way around the pond that could increase citizen usage. Since this park is maintained by the Town of Colonie already, the only real cost of the project would be the paving of walk way inside the park. The maintenance of the park itself is already being paid regularly anyway.

Introduction- Siena-Hudson Greenway Project Proposal --> Draft 1

Nicholas DiRoma

Siena College School of Environmental Studies

Loudonville, NY 12211

October 11, 2010

Introduction

The Siena-Hudson greenway project is something that I've personally been working on since sophomore year at Siena. It began in Dr. Johnson's Environmental Policy class, where we did the initial research, finding out if the project was actually plausible.This project is meant to make a connection between Siena College and the Hudson river. The goals of the greenway project are as follows:

1) Physically link Siena College and the Rt. 9 corridor with the Village of Menands, City of Watervliet, and the Rt. 32/ Broadway corridor through a network of existing green spaces and new bike paths.

2) Have Siena classrooms and students involved in the planning and revitalization process of the Rt. 32 / Broadway St. corridor by promoting sound environmental policy  options and practices.

3) Generate several reciprocal service-learning partnerships between Siena College and stakeholders within the SHGP boundary through the office of Academic Community Engagement. (Courtesy of Tim Golden, Class of 2013)

Objectives

My objectives for this project are to map bike routes and walking paths in the local Albany Rural and St. Agnes Cemeteries. I will be in charge of creating a path between Siena and the various cemeteries, while also mapping out the sidewalks to and from the cemeteries. I will also be in charge of creating a pathway that runs along Rt. 9, and also connecting Siena to Newton Plaza and the Town of Colonie’s Supervisor’s office.

Methodology

Completing this project will consist of me physically walking the area needed, surveying the location and taking GPS points throughout. I will have to then graph the points on a map using a specific computer program and then predict the next logical step for linking all of the areas. I will utilize a plethora of sources to complete this project for my client. Google maps will be used to initially map out the area for the project. Also, both Arc GIS software and ArcMap software will be used to map out the final portion of the project.

Work Plan

Oct 18, 2010 – Meet with Tim Golden to discuss initial planning, and ideas.

October 19-24 – Take GPS locations at various points along the Siena-Hudson Greenway plan.

October 25-29 – Map the various points using Google Maps, and meet with Tim Golden to discuss the proposed link.