Beneath your feet runs a river of brick and steel: the Hudson River Way, opened in 2002, carrying you from Broadway to the Corning Preserve on the water's edge. It carries you across Interstate 787 and was built to spark downtown and riverfront growth. Construction began in April 2001 and the grand opening was on August 10, 2002.
The bridge cost 8.5 million dollars, paid for by the municipal government, the New York State Department of Transportation — $3.3 million including an Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act grant — and more than 11,000 individuals, businesses, and other organizations who bought personalized bricks that now pave the structure. Look down and you’ll literally be standing on that community contribution. Along the span rise thirty concrete, nine-foot obelisk-lampposts holding trompe-l'œil still-life paintings created by AlbanyMural Ltd; these paintings won the Americans for the Arts Public Art Network Award in 2004 for exceptional quality.
Sponsored by individuals and organizations, each mural stages a chapter of Albany’s story, from prehistoric times onward. Notice the bricks underfoot, the painted obelisks marching alongside, and the river opening beyond the far end of the span.