Program would connect city with Newburgh
Two area residents have been awarded $100,000 by New York State to explore a bike-sharing program that would connect Beacon and Newburgh.
Thomas Wright, a Beacon resident and head of the city’s Greenway Trail Committee, and Naomi Hersson-Ringskog, an urban planner who lives in Newburgh, were awarded the funding through a Clean Mobility program overseen by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). It aims to add zero-emission connections to public transportation in underserved communities.
The award is not to create a bike-share program but to plan how one could work. Wright, who works in Newburgh, and Hersson-Ringskog will be paired with WXY Architecture + Urban Design to develop a blueprint for a program similar to New York City’s Citi Bike initiative. Wright and Hersson-Ringskog said they envision stations with eight to 10 bikes each, some electric, which users could check out for a fee or perhaps at no charge because of sponsors.
The duo foresee their plan leading to a public-private partnership like Citi Bike’s, which partners with the New York City Department of Transportation and Lyft, the ridesharing company. A combination of private funding, sponsors and memberships support the program.
Officials on both sides of the Hudson River have indicated they’re supportive of bikes for transportation, Hersson-Ringskog said. In Beacon, Mayor Lee Kyriacou has endorsed the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, a 7.5-mile linear park that Scenic Hudson is planning between Beacon and Cold Spring. The city is equally enthusiastic about a proposed Beacon-to-Hopewell rail trail. Both projects would significantly increase safe bike routes.
Beacon also has applied for funding from Dutchess County for a rehab of Beekman Street, which leads to the Metro-North station. The project, still several years away, could include bike lanes that would build on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s “first mile, last mile” initiative for environmentally friendly ways for passengers to connect to trains.
In Newburgh, Hersson-Ringskog’s nonprofit, Dept of Small Interventions, in 2020 partnered with the city’s Transportation Advisory Committee to create a community bike action plan, while monthly “critical mass” community rides take place from April to October. “You feel proud of your community that you’re not starting from zero,” Hersson-Ringskog said.
She and Wright are also working to create the “Regional Connector,” a 1-mile path that would connect the Metro-North station in Beacon to the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. That effort, they say, could unify a growing network of trails. A bike-share program could accelerate the campaign, Wright said, “by providing a means of mobility which gives users much greater range. When you add in e-bikes, the options are further multiplied.”
WXY plans to survey residents in both cities (see linktr.ee/newburgh.beacon.bike), while Wright and Hersson-Ringskog will make presentations to community groups. WXY will also help with data analysis, mapping and exploring partnerships for maintenance, operations and funding.
“We hope to uncover the voice of a broad cross-section of the communities that desires this,” Hersson-Ringskog said. “Here you have a transportation system that could really unite Beacon and Newburgh. We’re stronger together, essentially.”
The bike-share grant was one of 29 — totaling $2.9 million — that NYSERDA announced in March. Projects elsewhere in the state will explore the feasibility of charging hubs, scooter-share programs and electric-vehicle car shares. Ten of the 29 are in the Hudson Valley, including in Kingston, Poughkeepsie and New Paltz. With “transformational” developments being considered in the region, Wright said he believes “multi-modal systems” that can alleviate congestion without polluting the environment “are so important to think about.”
