Skywalkers
Imagine standing over 200 feet in the air on a splendid autumn day looking south to the Mid-Hudson Bridge, east to Poughkeepsie, west to the Hudson Highlands and, of course, looking straight down to the Hudson River itself.
Imagine biking from Poughkeepsie”™s Hudson River waterfront across the river to the cliffs and forests of the Shawangunk Mountains along rail trails 20 miles away.
Such ecotourism dreams came a huge step closer to reality this week and could be realized as soon as September 2009, in time for celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson”™s first journey up the river that now bears his name.
Under the just-approved state 2008-2009 budget, the Walkway Over the Hudson will receive $10.5 million in state funding to assist in refurbishing the old Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge into the world”™s longest pedestrian bridge and linear park.
“This will become a very iconic structure in our area,” said Amy Husten, executive director of the nonprofit Walkway Over the Hudson project. “This will be the longest pedestrian bridge that we know of. From our research, it seems it will be the longest by about 1000 feet, and is also a very, very tall bridge.” The deck is 212 feet above the water.
“This is a project that has been debated for many years and if you are going to go ahead and build a walkway up there, and make it a pedestrian park, it has to be built at some level of magnitude,” said Husten.
It could accurately be said the walkway will again become a very iconic structure in our area, because when opened in 1888 it was touted as the longest bridge in the world and considered a technological marvel. The bridge structure is 6,767, with 3,093 feet of that length above water and it was the first bridge over the Hudson built between New York City and Albany. Residents called it the Great Connector linking the two shores of the mighty river, and it carried some 3500 rail cars across the span on a daily basis at its height of operation. It served as rail link until a fire in 1974 severely damaged the tracks.
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But the structure is still sound. Over the last nine months, with funding help from the Dyson Foundation, the bridge has been thoroughly inspected. “Every piece of bridge had an engineer crawling over it, and the determination was the bridge is in excellent shape and there is no reason to think it couldn”™t handle the load of being a pedestrian bridge. That is when the project started to get a tremendous amount of traction,” said Husten.
She said that the new state budget allocates $8 million this year, and that state Sen. Steven Saland of Poughkeepsie has provided another $2.5 million as a member item earmarked for the project.
With state legislators support, the group is likely to receive another $8 million in next year”™s budget, the 2009-2010 budget cycle. Although she acknowledged “nothing is assured,” Husten said discussions with officials have provided enough reassurances that work will commence “within six weeks” demolishing the existing track bed material prior to installing the actual pedestrian and bicycle walkway.
The group already has raised $4 million thus far from grants and donations, and needs to raise roughly $8 million more for the estimated $32 million structure. Donations are being accepted, of course. Husten noted at 35 feet wide, the bridge is the width of a three-lane highway. “To create a three-lane highway 200feet in the air is an expensive proposition,” she said.
An economic impact study on the walkway Web site (www.walkway.org) has concluded it will generate an estimated $14.6 million in new direct spending by visitors to Dutchess and Ulster counties. These expenditures will result in a total of $21 million dollars of new economic activity regionally and statewide. Construction activity on the bridge will result in the creation of 258 new jobs.
The walkway is 35 feet wide at its widest point mid river and 24 feet wide at the approaches. It will be free for all to cross and will be fully accessible in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, with safety railings as well as benches, bathroom facilities at both ends, potable water, appropriate low key lighting designed to fit the historic structure, and security phones and cameras installed when the project is complete. It will be open all year, except for possible closures during ice and snow storms and will be available for special events as appropriate. Parking arrangements are still being finalized, as are links to rail trails connecting the bridge with the land running both west and east of the river. Husten envisions the facility will be used by commuters, too.
“Its pretty much unanimous that everyone is supporting this and thinks this is a great idea,” she said