The Orange County, New York, Legislature on Dec. 7 adopted a countywide bikeway vision to be added to its comprehensive plan.
The vision describes a 65-mile bikeway consisting of seven primary trails throughout the county, connecting town centers, scenic destinations, and transit stations.
These bikeways are intended to balance a county transportation system overly centered on roads and highways, with most to be built on inactive railbeds with federal and state funding.
“The Bikeway Vision will connect neighborhoods and communities in a transformative way,” County Executive Steve Neuhaus told The Epoch Times. “The county has seen an outpouring of positive response for our trail projects, and we look forward to making the Bikeway Vision a reality.”
County Planning Commissioner Alan Sorensen told The Epoch Times that adding the vision into the county’s comprehensive plan demonstrated a strong commitment and would facilitate future funding.
The system’s first major section is the Orange County Heritage Trail, a 19 1/2-mile county trail that runs from Monroe to Middletown along the former Erie Railroad.
It took the county about 20 years to develop that trail, which is now used by half a million locals every year for running, biking, and hiking, according to an estimate by the county’s tourism department.
Soon, the Heritage Trail will be extended through downtown Middletown to Ingrassia Road in the Town of Wallkill. Construction is expected to start next year.
Another major project in the works is the 10-mile Schunnemunk Rail Trail, which runs on the abandoned Erie Railroad from the Town of Chester to Salisbury Mills-Cornwall train station.
On Sept. 7, the County Legislature voted to buy the right of way of the future Schunnemunk Trail from the Open Space Institute for nearly $2.4 million, with the majority of the expenses covered by federal and state grants.
The trail will be the first in the county to have separate lanes for biking and hiking. Construction is expected to start next year and will cost about $28 million.
In addition, there are plans for five more trails: a 12.8-mile trail running from Middletown down to Unionville, two separate trails starting from Campbell Hall train station to the existing Walden-Wallkill Rail Trail on the north side and Goshen on the south side, and another two trails connecting Storm King Art Center with the nearby Salisbury Mills-Cornwall train station and Newburgh.
Mr. Sorensen told The Epoch Times in a previous interview that his passion for open spaces in large part formed in the time he spent hiking with his late son and that he hoped the future bikeway system would help more local families create cherished memories together.
In addition to the aforementioned seven major bikeways, two outer trails in less dense rural areas are also planned, with one to run from Middletown through Otisville to Westbrookville.
Climate Resilience Plan
The County Legislature also passed a climate resilience plan on Dec. 7 as part of the comprehensive plan.The plan depicts a decades-long trend of increasingly wetter and warmer weather in the county. It gives recommendations on how to minimize damages from flash flooding, hurricanes, and high heat.
It lists five priority projects: creating new flood benches in the Black Dirt region, relocating the Town of Cornwall sewage plant to a higher point, constructing an overflow swale to mitigate flooding in downtown Goshen, raising the existing berm along the Delaware River to reduce flooding to nearby communities, and constructing retention areas along Moodna Creek in the Washingtonville area.
The county planning department updates the comprehensive plan every five years to keep up with changing needs; the last one was updated in 2019.
Aside from the bikeway and climate resilience plans, the planning department is also revising the Open Space Plan, which won’t be complete until 2024, according to Mr. Sorensen.
