Questions sent to select Cold Spring residents
The Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail on Tuesday (March 26) released the results of a survey it offered to Cold Spring residents who live along Fair Street and on the river side of the Metro-North tracks.
HHFT said it mailed the 25-question survey to 147 households and received 66 responses, or 45 percent. Two-thirds of those who responded live on Fair Street.
Forty-five percent of respondents expressed a great deal of support for connecting Little Stony Point to Breakneck, and 24 percent moderate support, according to HHFT. Thirty-two percent expressed a great deal of support for connecting Dockside to Little Stony Point, and 23 percent moderate support.
Eighty percent of respondents said they felt somewhat or very informed about the project, but 54 percent said they did not understand “how HHFT’s visitation management tools will work together to change pedestrian flow, traffic flow and parking patterns.” For the complete results, see hhft.org.
Most of the support for a Dockside to Little Stony Point section of the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail was from the 80 percent of survey respondents who live east of the tracks, including everyone on Fair Street. I haven’t met anyone west of the tracks who wants it. Why do you suppose that is?
Most of the people I know who live west of Lunn Terrace, as the HHFT have dubbed us, around a dozen friends and neighbors, are supportive in varying degrees to the trail starting at Dockside. Recently, Rebeca Ramirez met residents (including my wife: I was out of the country) to discuss the proposal. Some expressed reservations. I believe HHFT is now examining a new route that will extend the existing path to the west of the tracks beyond the pedestrian tunnel to the causeway north of Dockside).
Exactly what is this “causeway” west of the tracks?
As a matter of clarification, from someone who attended the meeting, the purpose was for HHFT to hear local concerns re: alternative routing — of which the presenters recorded 20 or so from attendees before they ran out of paper — not to take a survey of popularity.
There is an assumption that the majority of the support for the Community Bypass Trail/Shoreline Trail South (Dockside Park to Little Stony Point) comes from residents on Fair Street, but the survey results show there is ample support from both east and west of the tracks. For those readers who are interested in the full details, we have added the comparison report to our website, showing how Fair Street and West of Lunn Terrace responded. Results (beginning on Page 46 at https://qrco.de/neighborhood-survey) showed greater support for Shoreline Trail South, proportionately, among residents living west of the tracks. Of the West of Lunn Terrace respondents who answered this question, 35 percent had a great deal of support for Shoreline South, and 25 percent had a moderate amount. Of the Fair Street respondents, 31 percent had a great deal of support for Shoreline South, and 21 percent a moderate amount. We look forward to continuing to listen to the broad spectrum of views and working together to get it right.
Ramirez is the community and visitor relations manager for the HHFT.
Many of us didn’t participate in the survey because of the inherent slant of the questions. Many who did wrote extensive comments, which are not being published.
The survey included numerous opportunities for respondents to share their individual opinions in open comments, and most did. All of the information received through the survey has been reviewed and all comments are being considered as HHFT continues to shape the Fjord Trail plan.
ALL survey findings appear on the HHFT website. All open comments have been included. The only information that has been redacted is personal information like names, addresses, emails, etc. to protect respondents’ privacy.
Martin is the director of development & community engagement for HHFT.
What is this great rush to transform a magnificent piece of natural wonder into a Disneyland of the north? Those of us who have lived here all our lives and those who have moved here more recently because of the natural beauty are to be displaced by the clamoring throngs out for a thrill, not on a journey of adventure or discovery.
Why do we need to provide entertainment for the restless? Given a couple years of massive disruption, they will find it too crowded and move on to other greener pastures only to turn them into a vast garbage dump.
To those who are concerned with the integrity of the survey, please know that we at HHFT published every comment submitted in the 66 surveys. We also kept comments from a respondent who did not provide an address but instead wrote “Fair Street.” This respondent did not look upon the project favorably. The only comments that were not included were those that came from two Morris Avenue households. If you have any questions regarding the survey or survey results, I am at [email protected] to answer your questions. Thank you for allowing us to continue conversing with you and learning from you.
Ramirez is the community and visitor relations manager for the HHFT.
Imagine if we let every developer create their own survey — where they control the questions, the data, the sample size and the results — and it got covered prominently in The Current. Maybe we should just put the trail up for a referendum? [via Facebook]