Protest planned against proposed Amtrak barriers
A protest is planned against a proposal to erect barriers to bar public access via railroad maintenance roads.
Earth Day will be the occasion for a Hudson riverfront access rally protesting an Amtrak proposal to erect gates and fences to bar public access via railroad maintenance roads.
The April 22 event will be from noon to 2 p.m. at Ernest R. Lasher Memorial Park off Anchorage Road.
“Amtrak’s proposal for the waterfront ... does not appear to attempt closing existing vehicular crossings, (but) it does appear to restrict access to all sections of the riverside access road north and south of the town’s existing crossings at Lasher Park and Cheviot Park,” town Waterfront Advisory Committee members wrote.
“Those stretches have for many years been active with fishing enthusiasts, bird watchers, dog walkers, joggers and walkers,” they wrote. “Also, a ... fence parallel to the tracks and along the terminus of Germantown’s Lower Main Street would seek to block river access at an unofficial crossing to an area of shore that has been busy with recreational activity dating back at least 105 years.”
Rhinebeck Town Board members are encouraging people to show up at the Germantown event as a way to emphasize the wide range of impact the project would have on recreational use of the Hudson River.
“Certainly we’ve been working with the state planning department and have wanted Amtrak to come present to us on what they’re doing,” Rhinebeck Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia said.
Comments on the proposal by National Railroad Passenger Corp., which operates Amtrak, are being taken through May 1 and can be sent to the state Department of State, Office of Planning, Development and Community Infrastructure, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, N.Y. 12231 or by email at cr@ dos.ny.gov.
“This project will deter a train (collision) with either a vehicle or human being and promote the well-being of the general public by restricting pedestrian and vehicular traffic along the Amtrak right-of-way,” corporation officials wrote.
“The fence will also service to direct pedestrian and vehicle traffic to a public road crossing which is protected by crossing gates which are equipped with early warning devices which warn of approaching train traffic,” they wrote. “This fencing initiative will be a beneficial activity as it will deter pedestrian and vehicular traffic from crossing ... where there is no advanced train warning systems and trains travel in excess of 90 mph.”
Under the plan, sites in Columbia County would include: Stuyvesant, where 350 feet of fencing would be installed going north and 500 feet going south; Stockport, where 350 feet of fencing would be erected on the north side of the railroad bridge and a gate placed to prevent unauthorized vehicles from getting onto the access road; Germantown, where 125 feet of fence would prevent vehicles from entering the access road at a boat launch, 700 feet of fence would be erected along tracks at the nearby town park, and 245 feet of fence would be installed to the north of the Cheviot Road crossing and a gate would be installed to prevent use of the access road to the south.
In Dutchess County, locations similarly affected would be in Tivoli, where gates would be placed to prevent access both north and south of the village track crossing, in Rhinebeck, where gates would be placed on Slate Dock Road near the water treatment plant, and in Rhinecliff at the south end of the train station parking lot.