The interchange services more than 70,000 vehicles a day.
For New York’s Route 17–Route 32 interchange, that number increases during the holiday season thanks to the Woodbury Commons Premium Outlets (WCPO), which is home to more than 250 stores. The main goal of the interchange reconstruction design-build project was to alleviate traffic around the mall and surrounding areas. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) awarded the project to the design-build (DB) team in 2017 with HNTB as the lead designer.
As part of the DB team, HNTB was responsible for the final design of the interchange. That design included widening and reconstructing Route 32 with a divergent diamond interchange (DDI); widening Route 17 to accommodate a future third lane and conversion to I-86; replacement of the Route-32-over-Route-17 Bridge; construction of a new Route-32-over-Nininger-Road Bridge; the rehabilitation of a Route 6 Ramp A Bridge over Route 17; optimizing traffic flow within the interchange and local roads; and improving access to the Monroe-Woodbury School District (MWSD) campus, WCPO, and the local Park-and-Ride lot while also coordinating with the all-electronic toll collection conversion at the New York State Thruway/Route 17 Interchange.
The additional design also included geotechnical, drainage, wetlands mitigation, signage, striping, temporary and permanent traffic signals, intelligent transportation systems (ITS), lighting, work zone traffic control, and utility relocations.
HNTB approached the project with value-based improvements and developed an alternate technical concept (ATC) that improved traffic operations (safety and travel times) while reducing the overall footprint of the project and environmental impacts. Each quadrant surrounding the interchange has a facility that generates high traffic volumes during all times and days of the week.
The team’s DDI and ATC combined with a local roadway network utilizing roundabouts and maximized the movement of traffic through the project area.
Project: Route 17 at Route 32 (Exit 131) Reconstruction
Location: Center Valley, New York
Owners: New York State Department of Transportation
Designer: HNTB New York Engineering and Architecture P.C.
Contractor: Yonkers Contracting Company Inc.
Cost: $134 million
Length: Route 17—1.3 miles; Route 32—1.3 miles
Completion Date: Oct. 31, 2020
