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Parks' chief has 700-mile vision to build, connect N.Y. trails - 22 April, 2008
By John Sullivan
Times Herald-Record
April 22, 2008
Development of unused rail beds a priority
Bear Mountain — There are hundreds of miles of rail beds just waiting to be turned into walking, biking or riding trails across this state.
And the new head of the state's parks wants governments, nonprofits and individuals to help build and connect them. That was the message given by Carol Ash's director of planning, Robert Reinhardt, during a five-region tour to promote Ash's vision for an interconnected trail system throughout New York.
As commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Ash has placed the development of the state's rails to trails program as one of her top priorities. Her staff began compiling a database of 700 miles of unused rail beds that could be turned into trails with the help of local communities.
But the database is incomplete, Reinhardt said during a stopover at Bear Mountain on the third leg of his tour last night. "If you know of more trails out there, we're more than willing to receive that information," he said.
The benefits of trails are well-documented. Trails improve the value of homes near them by as much as 20 percent, said a nonprofit official in the room. Recent trends, such as an aging population, reduced physical activity among working adults and obesity among children, add to their value near neighborhoods, Reinhardt said.
But obstacles to creating multi-use trails exist everywhere. Some are on privately owned properties that need to be bought. Others exist in municipalities that do not want the traffic coming through their communities, or are fearful of the security risks.
Orange County is trying to develop its existing 10 miles of the Heritage Trail to stretch from Howells, west of Middletown, to River Road in Harriman. The trail also has potential to connect as far as Sullivan and Ulster counties to the north and to Sterling Forest in the south, said Kate Schmidt, an Orange County planner who attended the meeting.
Achieving such a grand vision, however, would require tremendous amounts of cooperation, as well as money, Schmidt said. The current plan to extend the trail from Goshen to Howells will cost between $3 million and $4 million, she said.
"It's all a pie in the sky wish list at this point," she said.
jsullivan@th-record.com
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