TRAIL PLAN ON TRACK
Action nears on turning Midtown rail corridor into pedestrian path
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Ulster County lawmakers on Tuesday will consider whether to move forward with the conversion of a second section of the county-owned railroad corridor into a pedestrian trail.
The county Legislature will take up a proposal to bond $165,000 for design and engineering work when it meets at 6:30 p.m. in the Ulster County Office Building, 244 Fair St., Kingston.
County Executive Michael Hein says the conversion of the stretch of track between Cornell Street and Kingston Plaza into a Midtown linear park will create not only a recreational trail but also a route for people who don’t have vehicles to reach Kingston’s major supermarket, Hannaford, which is in the plaza.
“Right now, if you are of limited means, it is very difficult to access low-cost, 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, calling some areas of Kingston a “food desert.”
The section of track is part of the 38-mile former Ulster & Delaware Railroad line, owned by the county, that extends from Kingston to the border of Ulster
and Delaware counties.
The Catskill Mountain Railroad runs scenic train rides on the portion of the line that runs from Kingston Plaza toward the town of Hurley. The county Legislature adopted a policy in late 2015 that designated the section between Cornell Street and Kingston Plaza as a recreational trail.
Last month, the Legislature approved pulling up 11.5 miles of county-owned tracks alongside the Ashokan Reservoir for the creation of a trail.
The Midtown section of the corridor long has been frequented by some of the area’s homeless population. On Nov. 29, the body of 49-year-old Anthony Garro Jr. of Kingston was found along the tracks under a bridge on Elmendorf Street. Kingston police said Lyons was the victim of a brutal beating, and they charged Seth Lyons, 20, of Ulster Park, with second-degree murder later the same day. Police said both Lyons and Garro were homeless.
Hein said the county expects to install LED lighting and security phones along the trail, and the city of Kingston has committed to stepping up patrols once the trail is completed.
“This is an incredibly difficult area for police to patrol on regular basis,” Hein said. “It will be much easier for police to patrol once the linear park is completed.
“A well-utilized, well-lit, well-patrolled linear park will make the community significantly safer than a vacant train track,” he said.
Additionally, Hein said, the county will work with the homeless who frequent the area and try to help them find permanent housing.
“We have supports in place so that no one need go homeless in Ulster County,” the executive said.
Hein said that while the county is constructing the trail, the city will own and maintain it.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be $1.8 million. It will be funded with $797,997 in federal aid, $982,912 in state money and $95,000 from county coffers.
Construction of the linear park is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.