Many people will be back in Utica this weekend for the first time in a while for the city's 45th running of the Boilermaker Road Race, and some new changes downtown will open some eyes, and probably get some people driving the wrong way.

The first thing to notice is the new traffic pattern in the area of Oriskany Street and Genesee Street.

Let's start with the new roundabout near John Street and the Observer Dispatch. It took some people a while to get used to it, but traffic flows smoothly through there day and night.

Get our free mobile app
loading...

Oh, we should mention that the Observer Dispatch is no longer in that building on Oriskany. The OD has moved to a small office on Genesee Street and it's estimated they now have less than a dozen employees. A new owner is expected to move into that historic building sometime in the future.  Meanwhile, The Sentinel, which was formerly the Rome Sentinel, is expanding with new coverage into Utica and the Valley, and a new office expected sometime soon in Utica. Their coverage of Utica and Mohawk Valley news recently prompted the Utica City School District to make it "the new" official newspaper of the district.

loading...

Oh yeah, if you're driving in from the east and you've passed the former OD building, you can now make a left hand turn onto Genesee Street. Finally!

Take the turn and head up Genny and you'll discover the HSBC building is now Ocean Blue with rooftop seating. In fact, to get to the restaurant, you'll need to take an elevator and pass by the many floors filled with high-end loft apartments.

Go further up Genny,  and there's no longer a Radisson Hotel, it's now completely remodeled as a 5-star Delta by Marriott.

Instead of turning left from Oriskany Street onto Genesee, continue straight on Oriskany and you'll drive into what is currently one of the largest construction sites ever in downtown Utica.

You'll begin by passing the newly remodeled Hotel Utica on the left, which is now a 5-star Doubletree Hotel featuring a steakhouse by Chesterfield.  Continue straight and you'll see the completely remodeled Utica Memorial Auditorium which is now the Adirondack Bank Center and home to the Utica Comets. Next to it on the west side is the 72 Tavern and Grill and new construction connected to the east end is the soon to be opened NEXUS Center, which will house nationwide youth sports tournaments for soccer, lacrosse, and hockey, year round. It must open in November because tournaments are already booked there.

Now, look left and you can't miss the enormous construction site, which just so happens to be the first new hospital construction in New York State in decades. The new Wynn Hospital is just more than a year from completion. It will change the way people in the Mohawk Valley receive healthcare. This is all just the beginning, local officials say.

Indeed, if you haven't been to Utica in four or five years, you are in for a surprise. Things have changed and there's much more underway with big plans for North Genesee Street, a new state of the art Cree/Wolfspeed nano high tech manufacturing facility just to the north in Marcy, and several private projects which are also underway or are almost ready to begin.

loading...

So, we welcome you back and hope you're encouraged by the changes that are underway. If you come back next year for the road race, expect to see more progress with most of the new transformation anticipated for completion by the summer of 2024.

It's been a long laborious period to focus, plan, build, debate....debate some more...and ultimately, complete what has taken years to plan. Everybody here is hopeful that the people who have left and still call Utica home will be more than pleased with the city's improvements.

So please, pardon the dust and the mess and the steel, as we all work hard to make sure your next trip to "sin city" is more enjoyable than ever - just like the food we all know this city is already famous for.

LOOK: Here is the richest town in each state

Just saying the names of these towns immediately conjures up images of grand mansions, luxury cars, and ritzy restaurants. Read on to see which town in your home state took the title of the richest location and which place had the highest median income in the country. Who knows—your hometown might even be on this list.

LOOK: Here Are 30 Foods That Are Poisonous to Dogs

To prepare yourself for a potential incident, always keep your vet's phone number handy, along with an after-hours clinic you can call in an emergency. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center also has a hotline you can call at (888) 426-4435 for advice.

Even with all of these resources, however, the best cure for food poisoning is preventing it in the first place. To give you an idea of what human foods can be dangerous, Stacker has put together a slideshow of 30 common foods to avoid. Take a look to see if there are any that surprise you.

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

LOOK: The most famous actress born the same year as you

Many of the actresses in this story not only made a name for themselves through their collection of iconic performances, but also through the selfless, philanthropic nature with which many of them approached their stardom. In an age of flipping the script on societal norms, many of these actresses are using their voices and platforms to be advocates for those who are otherwise unheard.

LOOK: The Most Famous Actor Born Every Year

LOOK: 30 fascinating facts about sleep in the animal kingdom

KEEP READING: Here are the most popular baby names in every state

Using March 2019 data from the Social Security Administration, Stacker compiled a list of the most popular names in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., according to their 2018 SSA rankings. The top five boy names and top five girl names are listed for each state, as well as the number of babies born in 2018 with that name. Historically common names like Michael only made the top five in three states, while the less common name Harper ranks in the top five for 22 states.

Curious what names are trending in your home state? Keep reading to see if your name made the top five -- or to find inspiration for naming your baby.

LOOK: The most popular biblical baby names

To determine the most popular biblical baby names, Stacker consulted the name origin site Behind the Name and the Social Security Administration's baby names database then ranked the top 50 names from Behind the Name's Biblical Names origins list of 564 names, based on how many babies had been given these names in 2019. Click through to find out which biblical names have stood the test of time.

LOOK: The most expensive weather and climate disasters in recent decades

Stacker ranked the most expensive climate disasters by the billions since 1980 by the total cost of all damages, adjusted for inflation, based on 2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The list starts with Hurricane Sally, which caused $7.3 billion in damages in 2020, and ends with a devastating 2005 hurricane that caused $170 billion in damage and killed at least 1,833 people. Keep reading to discover the 50 of the most expensive climate disasters in recent decades in the U.S.

How Many in America: From Guns to Ghost Towns

Can you take a guess as to how many public schools are in the U.S.? Do you have any clue as to how many billionaires might be residing there? Read on to find out—and learn a thing or two about each of these selection’s cultural significance and legacy along the way.

READ ON: See the States Where People Live the Longest

Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.

More From Big Frog 104