The completed first phase of the Connective Corridor project has earned Syracuse University, the City of Syracuse, Barton & Loguidice P.C. and Onondaga County the 2012 Transportation Project of the Year Award from The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) New York Upstate Section.

The award is given each year in recognition of “outstanding planning, engineering, technology and public cooperation and coordination.” The award ceremony was a feature of the 2012 ITE New York Upstate Annual Meeting, held Oct. 10 and 11 at the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel and Conference Center.  The two-day meeting attracted transportation professionals from across New York State for technical workshops – one of which featured a tour of the Connective Corridor.

Accepting the award on behalf of the project team was Mark Budosh, project engineer; John P. Donohue, LEED AP and senior vice president; and Mary Rowlands, senior managing transportation planner with Barton & Loguidice. Joining them were Matthew Millea, Onondaga County deputy executive; Mary Robison, City of Syracuse engineer; and Linda Dickerson Hartsock, director in Syracuse University’s Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development.

The Connective Corridor was recognized as a complex project involving numerous sponsors, stakeholders, and a large, diverse team of sub-consultants, contractors and suppliers.

The first phase encompasses East Genesee Street from Forman Park to University Avenue, and University Avenue between East Genesee Street and Waverly Avenue.  Two subsequent phases will extend the Corridor west along East Genesee Street and Fayette Street to the Near West Side of Syracuse.

The University Avenue section of the project includes improved access to businesses, a safe, dedicated, two-way cycle track, dedicated turn lanes, new sidewalks, and energy efficient LED lighting.  The design also included converting University Avenue from a one-way street to a two-way street.

The East Genesee Street section serves as the spine of the Syracuse Connective Corridor. This comprehensive streetscape reconstruction provides considerable safety improvements for all modes of travel by reducing pedestrian crossing distances, slowing traffic speeds, providing new, dedicated turning lanes, installing new pedestrian audible count-down timers, and providing new ADA compliant curb ramps, sidewalks and durable crosswalks.

An extensive green infrastructure network was developed in collaboration with Onondaga County and funded by Save the Rain. The network includes subsurface infiltration trenches, silva cells, geogrids, bioswales, porous pavement, rain gardens, extensive plantings and bioretention. Forman Park’s green infrastructure includes more than 4,000 shrubs and perennials which will capture 119,000 gallons of storm water a year, and estimated savings from the East Genesee Street project are 1,771,000 gallons annually. When the Corridor is complete (from University Avenue to the Warehouse at Armory Square), it is expected to harvest and manage 5.9 million gallons annually.

The first phase project team included UPSTATE: A Center for Design Research and Real Estate in SU’s School of Architecture (design); Barton & Loguidice P.C. of Syracuse (project engineer); C&S Companies of Syracuse (construction management); Barrett Paving Materials of Liverpool (contractor/streetscape) and Ballard Construction (contractor/Forman Park).

Millea was the keynote speaker at the ITE meeting, focusing on Onondaga County’s “Save The Rain Program” – a comprehensive stormwater management plan intended to reduce pollution to Onondaga Lake and its tributaries that has received national attention for its implementation of multiple techniques that balance “gray and green” infrastructure.  Millea noted that, “A great deal of credit goes to the Connective Corridor design team who did a terrific job bringing together transportation engineering and green infrastructure, and implementing them in creative ways across the project with great success.”

“This honor from a recognized professional institute validates the Connective Corridor as a great working model for other communities—as a signature strip of cutting-edge design and engineering, a test bed for new technologies and a very unique collaborative endeavor,” says Hartsock.

Donohue said, “While it is certainly special to have this project be recognized by our peers, this award wouldn’t have been possible without the continued cooperation between the City of Syracuse, Syracuse University, Onondaga County, and the design team.”

ITE New York Upstate Section President Meaghan Capuano said that the SU conference location provided a “perfect opportunity to network with professionals from the public and private sectors, as well as students from surrounding colleges” in an effort to attract more students to the profession.  She also noted that the conference’s setting on the Connective Corridor afforded attendees to see first-hand “innovative urban environments, transportation best practices and Upstate New York initiatives.”

ITE is an international educational and scientific association of transportation professionals.  The New York Upstate Section covers all counties in the state north of the NYC metropolitan region.  Nominations are received annually from across the state for projects that demonstrate leadership and high standards in the application of planning and engineering, as well as coordination with multiple jurisdictions and project partners.  Nominees are drawn from institutions, organizations, government or legislative bodies and award recipients are selected by a committee of transportation professionals.