The Daily Take For Wednesday, April 18Th, 2012

I am sure that everybody who lives in the city of Albany has traveled to Crossgates Mall at one time or another.  Been there recently?  With the ongoing expansion of the UAlbany Nano Tech Park around the Fuller Road and Washington Avenue area it is necessary to reconstruct the entire roadway system.  There was a graphic in the TU last week that showed pretty well what the designers had in mind.  Washington Avenue as we know it, will now be re-routed to the north around the building under construction.  A bridge will be built to carry the road over Fuller Road.  A rotary will be constructed to carry traffic north and south on Fuller.  That is probably one of the busiest intersections in Albany, and the system as designed appears to work nicely (on paper).  The construction is well underway and looks like it will be finished this fall.  The builder is the same one that did a great job on minimizing aggravation during the renovation of Fuller Road........Thank you city of Albany lawmakers for passing the long awaited parking permit system.  Although probably not to be enacted until later this summer, this system brings welcome relief to the residents of certain downtown areas flooded with state workers vying for free parking spots.  For the workers who park there because of no alternative, I somewhat feel for you.  For the workers too lazy to take the bus to McCarty Avenue, too bad.  The council voted unanimously in passing the measure.  It was not without comment however.  Mayor wanna be Frank Commisso wondered if the $25 yearly fee is too low.  Frank, (he is my ward leader by the way) I have said many times that the fee was too low.  Make it $100 a year.  People will still be standing in line for the permits........I am not going to harp on this too much but the council finally voted to ban hydrofracking in the city of Albany.  Well congratulations.  They also now have enough votes to override any veto by Mayor Jennings.  Jerry who has been in opposition of the measure preferring to let it play out in the courts will probably let it pass without his signature.  Albany now joins dozens of localities in favor of the ban.  I don't know people; although I don't use natural gas in my home, this winter it has been by far the cheapest energy in town to heat your home.  I believe that the DEC has now finalized their upgrade of the drilling regulations.  It's up to our state government to approve these regulations while the lawyers get rich litigating the zillions of court proceedings that are sure to follow, by the drilling contractors who own mineral rights, or the landowners willing to sell them.  Thanks to Messrs. Igoe and Herring for their opposition to this ridiculous, redundant legislation.

And that is "The Daily Take"