The Cohoes Crescent Road is one of the more heavily used segments of the Mohawk Towpath Byway, but the one that needs the most attention.

The Mohawk Towpath Byway and the Town of Colonie have completed a study of the Cohoes Crescent Road between the Route 9 bridge at Crescent and the Cohoes City limits where the road becomes North Mohawk Street.

Thaddeus (Ted) Kolankowski of Barton and Loguidice is the project manager for the evaluation.

The study is available for public review through the Mohawk Towpath Byway’s website or from the Town of Colonie Department of Planning.  There will be a public availability session at 6:30 PM on February 14, 2013, at the Town of Colonie Public Operations Center at 347 Old Niskayuna Road.  Officials from the Mohawk Towpath Byway, the Town of Colonie, and Barton and Loguidice will be available to answer questions about the alternatives that have been studied and the recommendation that came out of the evaluation.

“The Cohoes Crescent Road is one of the more heavily trafficked segments on the Mohawk Towpath Byway,” admits Eric Hamilton, Executive Director of the Byway.  “Unfortunately it is the one segment that needs the most attention.  The evaluation lays out a vision for recreational, scenic, and interpretive improvements and improved, safer transportation along this segment.”

“The Cohoes Crescent Road was built on the old towpath of the original Erie Canal between the locks at Cohoes and the Aqueduct crossing at Crescent,” says Colonie Historian Kevin Franklin.  “Besides the Erie Canal, the area is rich in both Native American presence and early military history including the Loudon Ford crossing of the French and Indian and American Revolutionary Wars.   Early water powered mills and later hydroelectric power generating facilities and the dams that helped create the current Erie Canal System contribute to the story of the working landscape.”

The Mohawk Towpath National Byway is a series of local, country and state highways that follow the historic route of the Erie Canal between Schenectady and Waterford/Cohoes.  As one travels the Byway you unlock the story of the Mohawk River, Erie Canal, the waterway west and the part our communities played in the westward expansion of the country and the Industrial Revolution.  “The Byway is one of a network of 150 unique byways across the country that collectively tell the American story,” points out Larry Syzdek, Chairman of the Board of Directors.  “The Cohoes Crescent Road is an important central link in the Byway’s route.”

The Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway Coalition will be receiving comments on the study through April 1, 2013.  Comments can be addressed to the Coalition at P O Box 90, Clifton Park, NY 12065.