Renovation part of Fjord Trail project
The Breakneck Trailhead will reopen on Saturday (July 1) after a four-month renovation that was part of the first phase of the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, a proposed 7.5-mile “linear park” between Cold Spring and Beacon.
The work, which began on March 1, included relocating the trailhead farther up the ridge, repairing trail surfaces, installing stone steps leading to the ascent and constructing a trail steward station away from Route 9D, said Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail Inc., the project’s developer.
Construction is expected to begin this winter on the Breakneck Connector and Bridge, which will combine a trail running south along 9D from the Breakneck Metro-North stop and a bridge over the train tracks with new parking areas and bathrooms, and two trail bank areas.
Besides the dense smoke from Canadian wildfires, it looks as if the Hudson Highlands is getting an additional dose from State Parks and the Fjord Trail people. First, the public was not notified at all about the ribbon-cutting and celebratory speeches given by mega-donor Chris Davis, Parks Commissioner Eric Kulleseid and others on June 30 at the newly constructed steps up to the Breakneck trailhead. Why was the public not notified or invited?
Second, Parks is presently studying the possibility of constructing a 50-car parking lot along Route 9D, directly adjacent to the existing one at the Washburn Trail, which contains 47 spaces. I know this from conversations with Parks staff and not because of any public notification or news article. Thus, Parks would cut down several acres of forest and pave it, destroying likely nesting habitat for Cerulean Warblers, a New York State Species of Special Concern.
Additionally, who among us wants more of our trees cut down, and natural habitat destroyed so that day-trippers can find easy parking to already over-used trails? Is there no consideration by State Parks to the “carrying capacity” of Philipstown before it resembles Bear Mountain? A small town and village can only handle so much before it disappears into a suburban whirlpool of people and cars and pavement…
We asked Linda Cooper of State Parks for a response. She said: “We regularly look to improve parking and visitor safety at the Hudson Highlands Park Preserve. While we have discussed the possibility of expanding the Washburn Lot to accommodate more parking, there are no formal plans yet to do so. Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail has engaged a consultant to review the parking situation along the Route 9D corridor. Should this action be proposed for consideration, it will be studied in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).”