In November 1935 , 350 men were employed on the Cohoes – Crescent Road project under the Albany WPA program. A budget of $66,000 was approved for the project, and the wage scale for workers started at $15 per week.

Spindle City Historic Society Newsletter, spring 2022.
This circa 1920 photo shows the remnant of the 1842 Erie Canal at the toe of the slope in the foreground. The Towpath became the Cohoes – Crescent Road. The current version of the Erie Canal constructed over a century ago can be seen in the background (right to left) above the Crescent Dam.

The Town of Colonie and the Mohawk Towpath Byway completed a study of alternatives to improve safety and bike and pedestrian alternatives along this stretch of the Byway. Barton & Loguidice did the engineering study which included five alternatives in 2013. The preferred alternative would cost nearly $5 million (in 2013 construction costs). Construction would provide a parallel bike and Pedestrian pathway along river’s side of the town highway. This study was funded by a $18,000 grant the Byway obtained from the Federal Highway Administration Byway program in 2012 through the New York State Department of Transportation.

At the time the Town of Colonie was only able to obtain funding to repave the roadway between Route 9 and the City of Cohoes boundary.