Alternative path out of Cold Spring to be considered
Work is underway on the Breakneck Connector section of the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, but the rest of the 7.5-mile route, especially between Cold Spring and Breakneck, remains uncertain.
The HHFT says its preferred route begins at Dockside Park, which is owned by the state and maintained by the village, and largely follows the shoreline north toward Beacon. But there are also at least five “what-if” paths that were considered as part of an ongoing state environmental review and were presented by HHFT March 11 at Dutchess Manor.
Plus, there’s now an alternative alternative path that came up for discussion and will be investigated by HHFT, New York State and Metro-North, among others. This route, briefly mentioned on March 11, would skip Dockside. Instead, it would hug the western side of the tracks from the train station to the village line.
It should not be confused with two proposed routes running along the east side of the tracks that were discarded but revived by village officials and two Philipstown members of HHFT’s data committee. They suggested the routes could be viable if Metro-North is flexible on its rule that the trail must be at least 25 feet from the center of the tracks.
During a March 14 tour of the alternative routes, Amy Kacala, the executive director of HHFT, said the organization tried to get Metro-North to discuss the setback and failed. “But maybe now that it’s municipal officials requesting it, they’ll look at it differently,” she said.
Even if Metro-North reconsidered its 25-foot setback, there are obstacles to mapping the trail on the east side of the tracks, she said. For one, it would probably displace the Depot Restaurant’s outdoor patio and involve blasting through a rocky outcrop that could damage the houses located there. “Not good,” Kacala said.
If the trail ran along the west side, it would pass through less private property and heavy rock blasting wouldn’t be needed, she said. It would serve as an extension of the path from the train station, which could be repaired and the fencing replaced. HHFT believes those prospective improvements might make Metro-North more amenable to waiving the setback requirements in certain spots, she said.
It’s not clear why the alternative route on the east side of the tracks, which was suggested by a Cold Spring resident, wasn’t part of the initial analysis done by SLR Consulting, although Kacala said private property close to the tracks may have been a deterrent. Regardless, the route is now undergoing the same analysis that the others went through. “These things don’t move very quickly, but we’ve started the ball rolling,” Kacala said.
At the March 11 meeting, SLR’s Michael Doherty explained how alternative routes are judged, such as maintaining a minimum 10-foot width (although 12 to 14 feet is preferred) and accounting for projected sea-level rise because of global warming.
He said each route was scored in 10 categories such as traffic and safety, congestion management, environmental stewardship, regional support and diversity of users. The route through Dockside had the highest score, with 44 of 50 points.
Fjord Trail in Beacon
The route along the east side of the tracks scored 27. A route up Main Street scored 24 in part because it would involve removing trees and parking spaces. If the trail went along the eastern side of Route 9D, it would have to ascend around Breakneck Ridge, because the state Department of Transportation says the trail cannot go through the tunnel.
That route scored a 20. The lowest score (18) went to placing the trail along Route 9D from Breakneck to Beacon, mostly because of private property lines and, in Doherty’s words, “low user safety.”
I have 0 confidence in the SLR scoring “method” of scenarios as being little more than the typical smoke HHFT is blowing and little foundation in science. Where is the “no trail from Cold Spring” option? The values reported for different options — whether 24 or 24,000, strike me as subjective and meaningless. Instead of allaying concern, they create alarm. The decision appears to be predicated on “the least invasive and abhorrent choice possible”: the least worst-case scenario, according to the one consultant. If all the choices are poor, the answer is clear: The idea was ill-conceived, and that will never change. I don’t recall the provenance of the remarkably and alarmingly ill-conceived and inept idea to cut a “hobo trail” into the schist mountain along the tracks, but I pray it dies of its own impetus. Perhaps such cockamamie ideas merely serve to equivocate feasibility between hobo trails and a concrete swath and tourist theme park usurping Dockside. In that warped comparison, the latter then appearing to be more feasible, despite its vast shortcomings. I also don’t recall hearing anyone from Cold Spring asking HHFT to interfere with our infrastructure and quality-of-life issues: a wolf in sheep’s clothing if ever there was. My recommendation is that the developers vacate their mega-tourist gentrification plan and leave Cold Spring in peace, and our problems in the hands of our capable mayor and Board of Trustees. The deck provided by the developer for that meeting had the typical nebulous pros and cons,… Read more »
I am not opposed to the Fjord Trail — I am excited to use it. I grew up in Cold Spring, moved away for 20 years and moved back after working in the fields of architecture and urban planning in Taos, New Mexico, and Portland, Oregon. I bike and walk as preferred modes of transportation within the villages of Cold Spring and Nelsonville. I am a licensed architect, my wife is a licensed landscape architect. We own and operate an Architecture + Landscape Architecture firm in Cold Spring. I served on the Cold Spring Code Update committee which worked to rezone the riverfront parcels in question. I want to have a conversation about the HHFT/Cold Spring interface in a non-adversarial way in order to discuss the amazing possibilities that the HHFT presents to improve rather than squander the resources presented by the two existing public riverfront public spaces and village sidewalk spaces which currently serve residents and visitors to this community. I’m not saying “not in my backyard.” I’m saying — as a design professional who walks and bikes — “let’s get through my backyard in a way that makes sense and responds and respects existing public spaces and village infrastructure.” Addressing real pedestrian and bike access to the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail from the geographic center of Cold Spring Village rather than conveniently moving the start point of the trail to fit within the stated trail objectives is vital in terms of the ultimate success of the HHFT. Existing… Read more »
The large turnout was impressive, as was the expertise on display. It seems clear that the Fjord Trail is determined to listen to the community’s input and to address our concerns. The improved Breakneck train stop is already helping. Weekend hiker traffic seems to me at least to have diminished. A fully improved station with restrooms and other amenities will help even more.
The crowds will continue to come no matter what the community does — how to manage the crowds is the issue. The Fjord Trail people seem to have good ideas about how to do that. Continued community involvement in these discussions is more critical than ever.
I wanted to express my enthusiasm for the Fjord Trail and the presentation on March 11. Admittedly, I am close to and advocate the project. Still, the session provided a volume of info that everyone who attended can ponder when the state holds its meetings.
I was excited to see that there is still wiggle room on the starting point and that the ecology of the project is of paramount concern to all parties. The renderings made me incredibly hopeful of the beautiful possibilities. I live in the village and I’m familiar with the hordes of people who come on beautiful weather days. However, the claim by detractors that this is built for tourists seems myopic. The trail will be available seven days a week, even when it’s not perfect weather. As someone with arthritis in my knees, I look forward to being able to walk alongside the river and enjoy its majesty for many flat miles. I am eager for this to become reality.
I am pleased that HHFT is open to considering minor variations of access paths from the Metro-North station in Cold Spring to Little Stony Point. It’s a small concession to the needs of those who live here and a welcome change from the arrogant position that only starting in Dockside Park will do, and that HHFT and its army of prestigious, prize-winning experts know better than mere locals.
There is a saying that a successful negotiation is one from which all parties emerge equally unhappy. There is some truth to that. Everybody will have to give up something to create a broadly acceptable outcome. That’s better than some people giving up a lot so that others get a lot.
How will everyone get to the trail? Route 9, Route 9D and Route 301 are two-lane, curving roads with lots of traffic already. In the summer, with the Shakespeare Festival and the trail both happening on a Sunday afternoon, it will be like the Long Island Expressway during rush hour. [via Facebook]
In comments on this article, readers expressed concern that the criteria for assessing alternative routes for the Fjord Trail could bias a decision toward a terminus at Dockside Park.
Evidence for blatant criterion bias can be found on HHFT’s website in the video Reviewing Reach 1 & 2 – Dockside to Breakneck Ridge. The video presents slides that list pros and cons for each possible route. A “con” for every route that does not connect to Dockside Park is that it “does not connect to Dockside Park.”