They’ve finally legalized it.
Walkers and runners are now free to use a portion of the Albany County Rail Trail after local officials and open space activists gathered today to cut the ribbon on a 1.9-mile section running through the Town of Bethlehem.
We know people have been walking it, but they can now do it legally and not feel guilty about it, said Jill Knapp, executive director of the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy. `I just hope it gets a lot of use and everyone enjoys the effort that’s been put into this.`
The MHLC will be assuming the cost of liability insurance on the trail. Town of Bethlehem crews will help out with maintenance including mowing, and already volunteers have spent hours pruning the corridor. The county, which owns the land, agreed to participate in the partnership.
There’s only some limited work to be done before the trail can be brought up to standards for mountain bike use, and advocates of the project hope it’s only a matter of time before more of the trail can be opened.
`I’m really excited that we can open this section so our community can enjoy this,` said County Legislator Thomas Cotrofeld, who has the newly-opened section of trail running through his district. `I look forward to when the whole 9.1 miles of the trail can be opened.`
A year ago, the prospects were not so good for anyone who dreamed of legally walking the trail. The county completed the purchase of the corridor from Canadian Pacific Railway in early 2010, but funding the completion of the trail would prove to be a much heavier lift with nearly $8 million of work needed at last estimate.
The county has $2.4 million of federal money promised so far, but lining up other grants has proven difficult. The county wants to pave the entire path and repair or replace eight bridges that cross roads and rivers along the route. The county also wants to do this without any cost to the taxpayer and all in one project, which would save on construction costs.
County Executive Michael Breslin said today the prospects for funding are still a long way off.
`We don’t have any specific outlook,` he said. `Until we get these bridges addressed, this is what it is.`
Some at the ribbon cutting were pleased that the public and private sectors were able to coordinate relatively quickly on this effort. Though the rail trail effort has been at least conceptually active for over 15 years, it took only months to get the partial opening set up. Now, the public can finally enjoy some benefit of the purchase.
`We’ve got about two miles of a beautiful stretch of path that I’ve walked, and it’s a pleasure,` said Bethlehem Supervisor Sam Messina. `When we can work with partners in government like this to get going, there’s no end to what we can do.`
There will be a public celebration commemorating the opening of the trail on Saturday, June 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. where the trail crosses Adams Street, off of Kenwood Avenue in Delmar.
Public-private partnership leads way to light use of 1.9 miles of trail
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