State plans to close for construction
The Breakneck tunnel will be reduced to one lane beginning in mid-July for construction, Nelsonville Mayor Chris Winward said at the Village Board’s June 17 meeting.
Winward said that she and other municipal leaders had been informed earlier that day by the state parks department that the southbound lane of the tunnel on state Route 9D would be closed for about four months, with alternating traffic in the northbound lane controlled by traffic lights. A 5-foot-wide walkway will be added to the southbound lane, along with a crosswalk over 9D, she said they were told.
“It’s a little shocking that there wasn’t a plan in place to inform hikers, so we asked for [state parks] to put one together,” said Winward. “July is literally a couple of weeks away.”
Trustee Dave Moroney said the plan sounded like a “disaster.” He added: “I got a funny feeling that when they make that tunnel one-way for four or five months, all hell’s gonna break loose. People aren’t happy sitting at a traffic light,” especially “because it was a surprise.”
Rebeca Ramirez, a representative of the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, which is planning to build a pedestrian bridge over the Metro-North tracks on the north side of the tunnel, told the board that the state Department of Transportation was handling the closure and that she had no further information. A DOT representative said she could not provide details but that the agency places electronic signs near the roadway and issues a travel advisory before any lane closure.
The Breakneck trailhead is expected to close in the fall for an extended period because of construction on the Fjord Trail bridge.
I find the building of the Fjord Trail intrusive and disturbing. There seems to be no way to stop them and this will generate more crowds to destroy our already overrun town. This is quite clearly a done deal yet I don’t understand how it happened except that money talks. I am aware how many folks detest the trail but have no voice. Our town, Cold Spring, will sadly never be the same and I don’t understand how and why this needed to happen.
This is another example of city people coming to this area and causing changes to accommodate their prissy needs instead of understanding that they are out-of-towners walking on the sacred grounds of lifelongers.
Remember how much longer than expected Route 9 was blocked for rebuilding that little bridge? Luckily, we’ll get in training for Route 9D jams in time for the “fall construction” on the Fjord Trail bridge.
The absence of state Department of Transportation consultation with the town about this critical piece of transportation is inappropriate and maddening. But then the apparent absence of official approval for Fjord Trail construction projects is at least as bewildering. Do we citizens need to just get used to getting the back of the hand?
The lane has been closed but I’ve yet to see any construction start. Good thing it shut down now for no reason.