City still waits for rail trail approval
Eight months after Mayor Steve Noble said the state was conducting its final review of plans for the long-awaited Kingston Point Rail Trail, the city still has not received approval to start the project.
“We are still patiently waiting for approvals from NYSDOT,” Noble said in a recent email, referring to the state Department of Transportation. “I’m eager to get started. I’ll let you know when we have some good news to share.”
Last August, Noble said state transportation officials were “doing their final review to issue a right-of-way clearance certificate. Once this certificate is signed, the NYSDOT will issue the final de-
sign memo to the [state] Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the funder for the project.”
Noble said there would be “some final administrative approvals ... and then we will be able to bid the project.”
At the time, the mayor hoped to seek bids for the work in the fall or winter of 2017 and have construction begin this spring.
The initial plan for the 1.5-mile trail was submitted to the state in January 2017 and underwent some revisions afterward.
While some tangible work has been done toward creating the Kingston Point Rail Trail, the pathway remains incomplete. The trail, which is to run from Midtown to Kingston Point, was a priority for former Mayor Shayne Gallo, who served from January 2012 to December 2015, and Noble has picked up the ball since.
The city teamed with the Kingston Land Trust to create the walkable, bike-friendly asphalt trail that also would be accessible to people using wheelchairs. Noble is a founder of the Kingston Land Trust and a former environmental educator for the city.
The Kingston Point Rail Trail is to be part of the larger Kingston Greenline project. That effort aims to provide a backbone for bicycle and pedestrian accessibility throughout the city, as well as a connection to several other rail trails in Ulster County.