The Port Jervis City Council recently agreed to hire a professional engineering and architecture firm to design a public railroad pedestrian crossing to link downtown and Riverside Park.
A long-sought project in the small river city, the crossing will allow pedestrians to travel safely from riverside recreation and parking to downtown businesses or vice versa, according to Valerie Maginsky, the city’s community development director, in an interview.
Owned by Norfolk Southern Railway, the railroad tracks run through the heart of the city and are used by freight carriers and the Metropolitan Transportation Agency commuter trains.
At an Aug. 12 meeting, council members voted unanimously to engage Holmdel, New Jersey-based Colliers Engineering and Design to deliver a crossing design for $37,200, plus incidental costs.
The city intends to use the design package to apply for federal railroad crossing grants in late September. The grant program, known as the Railroad Crossing Elimination, is administered by the Federal Railroad Administration and was allocated $1 billion in 2024.
Should the city get traction on the crossing project with the new move, it will multiply the force of the incoming Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) state grant, according to Cory Puopolo, a local physical education teacher and hotel developer.
“With ambitious plans through the DRI for Riverside Park—including an amphitheater, recreation areas, mini-golf, and more—it is crucial to connect these developments with our lively downtown restaurants, hotels, and shops,” Puopolo told The Epoch Times.
In May, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a $9.7 million investment for nine private and public developments in Port Jervis, with the top prize, at $2.6 million, awarded to Riverside Park.
In addition, five or so private investors are awarded over $5 million in DRI funding to develop vacated downtown buildings into new residential, commercial, and cultural spaces.
The city had sought to get half a million DRI funding for the railroad crossing project but with no success.
Currently, there is one private railroad crossing on Fowler Street, which is only open to the public on days of large events or for authorized emergency use, according to a presentation by Maginsky at a City Council meeting in January.
Aside from securing money for the project, the city also needs to get regulatory approval for installing a public crossing on private tracks, a process that involves the state Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, and the railroad owner.
