Little Stony Point, Bannerman receive funds
New York State on Jan. 5 announced a round of grants for parks and trails.Â
The Little Stony Point Citizens Association will receive $30,593 to create safer access to the Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve. Its projects include revamping the gateway trail at Fair Street, installing interpretative signage, providing access that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and resurfacing the parking lot and bridge ramp entrances.
The Bannerman Castle Trust received $107,100 to repair trails from the waterfront dock to a new section of the North Trail. It also plans to replace two floating docks, repair steps, install an outdoor classroom/multi-purpose deck, replace the concrete sidewalk and install railings on the middle section of the North Trail.
What is the “Fair Street gateway trail” – it sounds newfangled? As I have always said, any additional access to the old dump site would be redundant with Fair Street and Route 9D north and south access. The continual and endless expansion of that former dumpsite only exacerbates the congested and hazardous conditions there, creating traffic bottlenecks at the crosswalk. Wasn’t that parking lot recently installed and expanded? If so, why is it being repaved again so soon? The area is far too overprogrammed solely in the service of tourists and dreaded hootenannies. The money would be better repurposed to assist our village in bankrolling degraded infrastructure, in lieu of overzealous environmental tourist advocacy. Insofar as being ADA-compliant, adding a few compliant signs or sidewalks does not somehow render the entire area ADA-compliant.