At my day job, I catch the #22 bus going home at the corner of Broadway & Wards Lane, in front of the U-Haul parking lot. That corner has had a notorious history of Menands' Department of Public Works being lax in clearing the sidewalk after a major snowstorm, for example.
Used to be that the bus would come straight up Broadway from downtown Albany. That was until nearly a month ago, when CDTA implemented some new service changes. One of those changes affects the buses heading north from Albany to Troy.
Instead of staying straight, the northbound buses are now required to stop at a newly installed bus shelter at Mid City Plaza, home to Dollar Tree, a pickleball court, Northern Lights cannabis dispensary, etc., but there is no corresponding shelter for southbound buses.
The simple explanation for this is that there really isn't any room for a southbound bus shelter without taking away parking lot space next to the pickleball court, across from the laundromat. As for the reason for the new shelter? From what I've been told, some riders have complained about having to cross Broadway during afternoon rush, due to not having a signal device that can control the traffic lights, like the ones on each corner at Wards Lane. Sure, there's a traffic light in front of the plaza, but when you're dealing with seniors and/or disabled workers wary of the prospect of reckless drivers coming from Albany (or headed in the opposite direction), well.............!
Given that we have snow in the forecast through Monday, that bus shelter is looking really good right now, but inevitably, there'll be calls to add the southbound one down the line if there's enough interest.
Stay tuned.
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