Projects for pedestrians get $3M from state

Two city projects intended to benefit pedestrians are getting a total of nearly $3 million from the state, officials said Thursday.

Of that amount, $1,508,300 is to be used by Ulster County to create a linear park from Cornell Street to Kingston Plaza in the city. Another $1,348,524 will be used for the Henry Street portion of the “Safe Routes to Schools” initiative that aims to make it safer for children to walk to and from school in Kingston.

The funding was announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as part of a statewide distribution of $112.2 million for 81 projects “that support bicycle and pedestrian enhancements.”

“This funding is critical to enhancing our infrastructure and paving the way for both pedestrian and bicycle travel,” Cuomo said in a press release. “By improving roadway safety and increasing access to healthy transportation alternatives, we are providing both residents and visitors a chance to experience the state’s natural beauty like never before, while supporting a cleaner, greener New York for generations to come.”

Ulster County Executive Michael Hein said the Midtown linear park will serve not only as a recreational pathway but also as a route for people who don’t have vehicles to reach Kingston’s major supermarket, Hannaford, in the plaza.

“Right now, if you are of limited means, it is very difficult to access lowcost, high-quality food because you don’t have easy access without transportation to a supermarket, something that many folks simply take for granted,” Hein said Thursday.

“So, instead, people who are economically s disadvantaged wind up spending significantly more at the corner store for basic necessities,” he said. “People with the least wind up spending the most.”

Hein said the state money will pay for 80 percent of the linear park construction, which he hopes will be complete three years from now.

Kingston Mayor Steve Noble said the city will use its portion of the state money to improve pedestrian and bicycle amenities along the entire length of Henry Street, from Wall Street to Broadway.

George Washington Elementary School is at the corner of Wall and Henry streets.

“The George Washington Elementary School student body has the highest percentage of walkers in the district, and this funding will enable us to provide the infrastructure necessary to make Henry Street safer for the many children who walk and bike to school,” Noble said in a press release.

And, he said, “this project will dovetail seamlessly with our upcoming Broadway Streetscape project, allowing the city to invest millions of dollars into Midtown’s transportation infrastructure.”

The Henry Street project will include sidewalk reconstruction, the installation of bicycle infrastructure, high-visibility crosswalks, a covered bicycle parking area at the school and the creation of wheelchair-accessible curb cuts at intersections that lack them.

As with the linear park project, the state aid will cover 80 percent of the Henry Street project’s cost.