Take a flyover of the improvements to the John James Audubon Parkway bridge and adjacent roundabout.
This Locally Administered Federal Aid (LAFA) project addressed structural deterioration of the bridge carrying southbound traffic on JJ Audubon Parkway over Ellicott Creek in Amherst, New York. The bridge had not been rehabilitated since being constructed in 1982, and a yellow structural flag had been issued for deteriorating concrete and exposed steel reinforcement every year since 2012.
Similar – but less severe – deterioration was also occurring on the adjacent northbound bridge, which was built at the same time.
The final project revolved around a Complete Streets approach to accommodate vehicles and pedestrians because the project site was adjacent to an intersection that was between the University at Buffalo’s North Campus’s primary dormitory complex and its educational buildings. The approach entailed implementing a road diet throughout the project limits that reduced the number of through travel lanes to one each for northbound and southbound vehicles on JJ Audubon Parkway, in order to better suit the current and projected traffic levels.
Rather than have two separate structures, the road was realigned to put both directions of traffic on a single bridge, allowing for the replacement of the northbound bridge superstructure with a prefabricated steel truss for pedestrians and bicyclists. The former northbound travel lanes were redeveloped with significantly less impervious pavement to accommodate the pedestrians and bicyclists.
The project also improved safety at the intersection with Frontier Road, as the result of the construction of a modern roundabout to replace the signalized intersection.
The project work included full-depth pavement reconstruction, milling and overlay, drainage modifications, and realignment of segments of the Ellicott Creek Trailway (a popular multiuse path).
Erdman Anthony was responsible for project management, ROW incidentals – including producing acquisition maps – and all design phases. The project required significant coordination with NYSDOT and the University at Buffalo.
Awards
2022 ACEC New York Gold Award, Category C
Structural Systems