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Something's Missing from the Rail - Trail Debate

1/19/2014

11 Comments

 
PictureThe Adirondack Rail Corridor in Ray Brook.
Is it just us or is there something missing from the discussion of rails and trails? Why is the discussion of trails limited to one rail bed (of many within the park) rather than exploring the larger question of, “What are the trails needs park wide?”

Rather than looking at the rail – trail issue in isolation from the larger issue of creating and enhancing recreational opportunities within the Adirondack Park, we should focus on exploring the idea of an Adirondack Park Community-Based Trail System. The rail - trail issue can and should only be addressed after we have acknowledged and prioritized our park-wide trail needs. What follows is a vision for such a trail system in the Adirondack Park and, although the process for such an effort needs to be determined and articulated, it is a vision that would benefit the entire Adirondack Park and its communities.

Adirondack Park Community-Based Trail System

Goal:  To create a community-based trail system in the Adirondack Park that will link communities via multi-use trails by utilizing existing trails, the railroad corridor, highway right-of-ways, and newly created trails.

Background: It is estimated that there are over 4,000 miles of different types of trails in the Adirondack Park; however, by and large, these trails are either concentrated in certain areas or haphazard in nature. System is defined as a set of connected things or parts forming a complex whole. With few exceptions the park’s trails are not part of a system.

By community-based trails we mean trails that have a number of features:
  1. They allow travel throughout the community to various points in a town or village (e.g., home to grocery store)
  2. They allow travel to scenic and recreational points within or near a community (e.g., hotel to summit of nearby mountain, home to cross-country ski center)
  3. They allow travel between communities and public lands (e.g., community to community, hotel to wilderness area trailhead)
  4. They allow travel from trailhead to trailhead not just to interior destinations (e.g., from trailhead through a wilderness area to another trailhead)
  5. They allow looped trips that don’t require retracing your travel (e.g., rather than a trail that goes to a pond, perhaps it goes around the pond and comes back to the starting point via a different route)
  6. They may be side by side with existing roads and rail corridors or intersecting them
  7. Trails can be accessed locally without the need to get in an automobile

Rationale:
A variety of state agencies and not-for-profit organizations manage, advocate for, and maintain the park’s trails. Most would agree that they are underfunded and lack a comprehensive park-wide vision.

The Adirondack Park Recreation Strategy called for a more comprehensive recreation strategy to, “Establish recreational linkages between communities in the Park...Create a system of destination trails that weave between the regions of the Park…” and “Identify and develop recreational opportunities within communities.” In addition it suggested that “...a dedicated fund devoted to maintaining recreation infrastructure” be established.

The reasons for such a system distills down to two fundamental points:
  • It makes good economic sense
  • It improves the quality of life for residents

Possible Next Steps:

  1. Host an Adirondack Park Community-Based Trail System Summit to explore the idea in more depth
  2. Develop a process for gathering public input and collecting data 
  3. Develop a plan for the development and implementation of this system.
  4. Explore funding opportunities

References
  1. http://visitadirondacks.com/recreation/hiking
  2. http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/lands_forests_pdf/snplfnl.pdf
  3. http://adkfutures.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/adirondack-park-recreation-strategy.pdf




11 Comments
Bob Hest
1/19/2014 08:00:37 pm

Jack,
Would you consider a probable third reason for such a system? It creates and connects points of interest for recreation visitors to use.

Reply
Jack Drury
1/19/2014 10:24:02 pm

Thanks for the idea Bob.

Reply
JIm Hotaling
1/20/2014 12:43:44 am

Another aspect to add to list:
They allow access to community historic and cultural features.


other comment:
Trails, including planned historic tours as well as general walking paths, expose the visitor and resident to the history of our communities. In the case of the Remsen-Lake Placid corridor, it is itself a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places, with the rails, rail bed, buildings and equipment designated as contributing features and thereby protected by law. As an active railroad as classified by the Federal Railway Administration and DOT, it is a living cultural resource. The potential of this historic railroad, and related trail system as planned, linking historic community centers and districts together is a perfect fit for "heritage tourism", an important economic and educational force for our communities.


Reply
Jack
1/21/2014 04:34:09 am

I think the historic and cultural link is one I combined with recreation. I agree it deserves its own category.

Reply
Daniel C Mecklenburg
1/20/2014 09:11:51 pm

This is all wonderful but has only a little to do with the travel corridor which is 100 ft wide and runs from Utica to Lake Placid and is the only system being reviewed relative to the UMP. i agree that trails along this corridor should be looked at in relation to THIS corridor which link nearby communities.

Reply
jim hotaling
1/20/2014 10:06:59 pm

The Remsen - Lake Placid corridor is unique in that it's the only rr corridor running through the center of the Park, linking historic and economic centers and a variety of natural areas. Of a Park-wide system which the site proposes, the Remsen-Lake Placid corridor would be perhaps the longest and most unique component, making it even more significant than when seen on its own. New York State should recognize the corridor as part of a larger system, unique in scale, function and potential.

Reply
Ken Youngblood
1/21/2014 04:02:14 am

Though I know you are a proponent of preserving the Scenic Railroad, I found myself in agreement with the principles you lay out. The conversion of the Remsen-Lake Placid line to a recreational trail will create the central hub you speak of as a necessary access linking together a comprehensive network of recreational trails. I think people see that and that is why the Adirondack Recreational Trail is gaining popular support.

Reply
Jack
1/21/2014 04:32:20 am

Thanks for your comment Ken.

Reply
Ed Hixson
1/26/2014 11:33:34 pm

Great, Needed,Fun,Healthy,Community costs can be exceeded by benefits,could apply to all "users"-hikers,skiiers,snowshoers,snowmobilers,mountainbikers,etc.

Reply
Kurt Seitz link
1/30/2014 02:14:12 am

Jack,

You present an excellent idea, one that is not new but seems to have been lost along the way. In 1969, the NYS Council of Parks and Outdoor Recreation, headed by Laurance Rockefeller, put out a report entitled Outdoor Recreation Trails in New York State, which outlined recommendations for trails policy and development. The report proposed a “NYS Greenway” system linking existing trail routes, canal corridors, abandoned rail corridors, utility rights-of-way, state parks and historic sites, wildlife areas, and scenic overlooks. The system proposed integrating communities with natural, scenic, and historical locations. The term “greenway” was replaced with the term “recreationway” a few years later. More recently, the term “community trails” has been used.

That greenway concept took off in an urban setting when New York City came out with its “Greenway Plan” in 1993, and NYC has continued to make excellent progress with its system, albeit partially on city streets. The state system made good progress in the 1970s but has since been very lackluster. I attempted to highlight a statewide greenway system, mostly as a proposal, when I wrote portions of the 2010 New York Statewide Trails Plan for OPRHP [http://nysparks.com/recreation/trails/documents/StatewideTrailsPlan/StatewideTrailsPlanFigure1.pdf]. I included only a few proposed greenway/ recreationway/ community trail routes in the Adirondacks, but of course the potential is much greater.

I heartily endorse an interconnected network of community trails both throughout the Adirondack Park and throughout the state. I proposed such a network in my thesis paper, entitled “Infrastructure for a Sustainable Society: Planning for Greenways in New York State”, for grad school in 2009. Excerpts follow:

“Charles Little provides a visionary line in Greenways for America when he states: “To make a greenway, as you will find as you read further in this book, is to make a community. And that, above all else, is what the movement is all about.”… A state-level management structure of a statewide greenway network is important to achieve standardization and to maintain adequate control over the multiple uses of greenways, which would likely become unbalanced if left to single-use interest groups, or to an agency that specializes in other things… There is now a wealth of information available from many sources on the benefits of greenways, economic and otherwise, which provides a compelling argument in favor of developing greenways… New York State, with a history of grand public works projects that were a model for the nation – the Erie Canal, the Croton Aqueduct and Reservoirs, New York City’s Central Park, the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Thruway – has the potential to create a grand model of sustainable infrastructure at a time when it is most needed. New York already has a greenway legacy that could serve as the foundation of a much more extensive statewide system of greenways, the development of which could help lift the state out of the current recession. A network of greenways that rivals our network of highways would stimulate tourism, promote a healthy lifestyle for the state’s residents, provide community infrastructure, contribute to a new conservation ethic, enhance our quality of life, and be a showcase for an environmental sustainable lifestyle. Greenway would take its place in the lexicon of New Yorkers alongside the terms highway, driveway, parkway, railway, freeway, speedway, runway, and subway. A new state-level greenway agency, which would best serve the needs for planning, development, maintenance, and management of the statewide greenway network, could also become a model for a new form of governance, one that intimately involves the public in public works and helps bridge the gap of a growing polarization in politics.”

Best wishes!

Reply
New Mexico link
2/25/2021 03:59:49 pm

Grateful for shariing this

Reply



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