Thruway authority hires firm for study of Grand Island bridges
ALBANY — The New York State Thruway Authority has selected a Buffalo-based engineering firm to lead a $1.6 million federally funded study of the four Grand Island bridges and the I-190 corridor.
During a meeting on Tuesday, the Thruway Authority's board of directors unanimously agreed to hire WSP USA, Inc., formerly Parsons Brinckherhoff, to conduct a planning and environmental linkages study.
The assessment will include, 'an analysis of the bridges against the regional transportation network's current and future needs, an investigation of feasible project alternatives and an examination of social, economic and environmental conditions.' In addition, the study will involve a Life Cycle Cost Analysis and result in the development of a forecast for future toll revenue.
The study will be conducted under a two-year contract that includes an option for a third year and will be performed in cooperation with the Greater Buffalo Regional Transportation Council, a metropolitan planning organization covering Erie and Niagara counties.
The finished product is expected to help guide future maintenance, rehabilitation and potential reconstruction activities involving the bridges and the thruway corridor.
The cost of the study will be covered under a planning grant awarded to the Thruway Authority last year under the Bridge Investment Program, which is funded through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Law.
In an announcement on the awarding of the grant, Thruway Authority Executive Director Frank G. Hoare noted that the original Grand Island bridges were built in the 1930s and have become 'increasingly expensive to maintain due to both their age and structural complexity.' He said at the time that the funding would allow the authority to 'enhance the safety and improve the efficiency and reliability of the bridges for all who travel over them for generations to come.'
The Grand Island Bridges serve more than 47.5 million vehicles annually and are part of a commercial corridor that links an estimated $23.7 billion in US-Canada freight trade. They are also the only connection points between the 21,000 residents of Grand Island and the mainland.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
40 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Lebanon aims to lure back wealthy Gulf tourists to jumpstart its war-torn economy
Now, after last year's bruising war with Israel, Hezbollah is much weaker and Lebanon's new political leaders sense an opportunity to revitalize the economy once again with help from wealthy neighbors. They aim to disarm Hezbollah and rekindle ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, which in recent years have prohibited their citizens from visiting Lebanon or importing its products. Advertisement 'Tourism is a big catalyst, and so it's very important that the bans get lifted,' said Laura Khazen Lahoud, the country's tourism minister. On the highway leading to the Beirut airport, once-ubiquitous banners touting Hezbollah's leadership have been replaced with commercial billboards and posters that read 'a new era for Lebanon.' In the center of Beirut, and especially in neighborhoods that hope to attract tourists, political posters are coming down, and police and army patrols are on the rise. Advertisement There are signs of thawing relations with some Gulf neighbors. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have lifted yearslong travel bans. All eyes are now on Saudi Arabia, a regional political and economic powerhouse, to see if it will follow suit, according to Lahoud and other Lebanese officials. A key sticking point is security, these officials say. Although a ceasefire with Israel has been in place since November, near-daily airstrikes have continued in southern and eastern Lebanon, where Hezbollah over the years had built its political base and powerful military arsenal. As vital as tourism is — it accounted for almost 20% of Lebanon's economy before it tanked in 2019 — the country's leaders say it is just one piece of a larger puzzle they are trying to put back together. Lebanon's agricultural and industrial sectors are in shambles, suffering a major blow in 2021, when Saudi Arabia banned their exports after accusing Hezbollah of smuggling drugs into Riyadh. Years of economic dysfunction have left the country's once-thriving middle class in a state of desperation. The World Bank says poverty nearly tripled in Lebanon over the past decade, affecting close to half its population of nearly 6 million. To make matters worse, inflation is soaring, with the Lebanese pound losing 90% of its value, and many families lost their savings when banks collapsed. Tourism is seen by Lebanon's leaders as the best way to kickstart the reconciliation needed with Gulf countries -- and only then can they move on to exports and other economic growth opportunities. Advertisement 'It's the thing that makes most sense, because that's all Lebanon can sell now,' said Sami Zoughaib, research manager at The Policy Initiative, a Beirut-based think tank. With summer still weeks away, flights to Lebanon are already packed with expats and locals from countries that overturned their travel bans, and hotels say bookings have been brisk. At the event hosted last month by the tourism ministry, the owner of the St. Georges Hotel, Fady El-Khoury, beamed. The hotel, owned by his father in its heyday, has acutely felt Lebanon's ups and downs over the decades, closing and reopening multiple times because of wars. 'I have a feeling that the country is coming back after 50 years,' he said. On a recent weekend, as people crammed the beaches of the northern city of Batroun, and jet skis whizzed along the Mediterranean, local business people sounded optimistic that the country was on the right path. 'We are happy, and everyone here is happy,' said Jad Nasr, co-owner of a private beach club. 'After years of being boycotted by the Arabs and our brothers in the Gulf, we expect this year for us to always be full.' Still, tourism is not a panacea for Lebanon's economy, which for decades has suffered from rampant corruption and waste. Lebanon has been in talks with the International Monetary Fund for years over a recovery plan that would include billions in loans and require the country to combat corruption, restructure its banks, and bring improvements to a range of public services, including electricity and water. Without those and other reforms, Lebanon's wealthy neighbors will lack confidence to invest there, experts said. A tourism boom alone would serve as a 'morphine shot that would only temporarily ease the pain' rather than stop the deepening poverty in Lebanon, Zoughaib said. Advertisement The tourism minister, Lahoud, agreed, saying a long-term process has only just begun. 'But we're talking about subjects we never talked about before,' she said. 'And I think the whole country has realized that war doesn't serve anyone, and that we really need our economy to be back and flourish again.'
Indianapolis Star
2 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
See Purdue's 50-year plan to transform downtown Indianapolis campus with high-rises
Over the next 50 years, Purdue University plans to transform its downtown Indianapolis campus into an urban hub with high-rise buildings serving up to 15,000 students, according to a new master plan. Today, Purdue's 28-acre sliver of land wedged between Indiana Avenue and Michigan Street on downtown's west side — roughly the same acreage as the parcel on which Lucas Oil Stadium and its south parking lot sit — is home to three parking garages and five expansive parking lots. A conceptual master plan approved by Purdue's Board of Trustees June 6 envisions 16 new buildings on that site, featuring 4.5 million square feet and about 3,500 student beds. With leasing agreements at nearby apartments, Purdue expects to offer students more than 5,300 beds downtown. The plan foresees an increase in Purdue's student enrollment in Indianapolis from about 2,800 in fall 2024 to 15,000 by fall 2075. Despite the dense development, the plan sets aside about 60% of the downtown acreage for open spaces where students can gather and walk, according to Maryland-based architecture firm Ayers Saint Gross, which designed the 50-year master plan. Construction on the campus' main building, the 15-story Academic Success Building near the intersection of West and Michigan streets, began this April. The $187 million facility with classrooms, lab space, dining halls and student housing will be complete around May 2027. The long-term plan comes as Purdue and Indiana University in Indianapolis jostle for position on the west side of downtown following the 2024 split of the two schools' joint urban campus, IUPUI. As Purdue updates its plans, IU has allotted hundreds of millions of dollars to build multiple major facilities, including an 11-story School of Medicine building and a 4,500-seat athletics center, on its downtown campus in the next few years. IUPUI split: Indiana Ave. fell as IUPUI rose. After Purdue and IU split, can they help renew the Avenue? After the IUPUI division, IU retains most of the 536-acre downtown campus and enrolled more than 25,000 students in fall 2024. IU also owns the 28-acre wedge of land where Purdue will expand between Indiana Avenue to the north, Michigan Street to the south and Blake Street to the west. Purdue has signed a 100-year lease to use the property. Purdue is expanding into Indiana's capital city in part to ease the strain on housing and other facilities at the West Lafayette campus, which now enrolls an all-time high of more than 55,000 students. University leaders have also announced partnerships with Indianapolis-based science and engineering firms like animal health company Elanco and race car manufacturer Dallara. 'Rather than a single hub, Purdue is weaving into the fabric of the city's innovation and industry corridors," David Umulis, Purdue's senior vice provost for Indianapolis, said in a statement, "expanding from downtown all the way to the northwest side of Indianapolis."
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
BMO Lifts CrowdStrike (CRWD) Price Target to $500, Cites Long-Term Growth Strength
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) stands against other buzzing AI stocks on latest news and ratings. On June 4th, BMO Capital raised the firm's price target on CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) to $500 from $405 and kept an 'Outperform' rating on the shares. Firm analysts cited CrowdStrike's 'solid if unspectacular' quarterly performance and comprehensive security portfolio as reasons behind the rating affirmation. The analysts also told investors in a research note how the company boasts one of the most comprehensive and effective security portfolios. Security personnel at their consoles, monitoring a global network of threats in real-time. Analysts also added that they are optimistic about the company's ability to sustain 20% top-line growth into fiscal year 2027. This growth projection aligns with its current revenue growth of 26% and projected 21% growth for the next fiscal year. Moreover, CrowdStrike's customer commitment packages anniversary is expected to boost annual recurring revenue growth in the second half of fiscal year 2026. Even though the analysts acknowledge the stock's high valuation, they are optimistic about its future performance. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) is a leader in AI-driven endpoint and cloud workload protection. Overall, CRWD ranks 8th on our list of buzzing AI stocks on latest news and ratings. While we acknowledge the potential of CRWD as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
