Walkway Over the Hudson - Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge

NRGeep wrote:Eminent domain says remove all the new buildings that have been built along the former ROW and make it part of a new, truly high speed Boston to points west railroad!

This was a joke! Though the harvard prof cited in the Albany Times Union article apparently didn't think so.

Issue: Walkway Over the Hudson, the group whose mission is to turn the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge into the world’s longest elevated walkway, will receive $8 million.

Impact: The $8 million will go toward an estimated $25 million price tag to build the walkway. The group risked pushing back the target opening date of fall 2009 to a later date if the expected state funding had fallen through. The state money will allow the group to begin planning for the destruction and construction phase, which is expected to begin soon.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps ... 1/80409051

Wow, this is great news. I mean, better in rails, but better a walkway than nothing.

On a related note, New York State Department of Health officials report a sharp rise in the number of NIMBY heart attacks in both Ulster and Dutchess Counties.

Is it great news?
I'm a railfan, I'm all for preservation.
But I'm also a taxpayer. To spend millions on rehabbing a bridge just to be able to walk out on it seems excessive. If a private group wants to raise the funds to do that, fine, but I'd rather not see my tax dollars going to such a project. (Along with a couple hundred other similar pork barrel projects.) Just my 2 cents.

Brad Smith wrote:To spend millions on rehabbing a bridge just to be able to walk out on it seems excessive.

The walkway is the excuse to maintain the bridge. As a taxpayer, you own it (I speculate here), and you are responsible for it. It would be WAY more expensive to tear it down than to maintain it, and even merely maintaining it will be expensive.

Either we spend $8 million to stabilize it... and put a walkway up while we're there... or we let the bridge sit and deteriorate until it become a navigation hazard and injures someone. Or someone spends $50 million for dismantling... and you're never getting those piers out of the water...

-otto-

I'm not sure it was worth it. Where is this $50 million dollar removal fee coming from? They say it is they planned for a total of $30m to complete the project and they've raised $13m outside of the recent grant of $8m.

How much does scrap steel go for? This seems more like a bridge to nowhere. (no pun intended.)

There has to be more to this story.

I, too, would be concerned about spending the money but this could
become an attraction that would bring people from out of the area to see
and walk across the bridge.
I think the positives outweigh the negatives in this case and the money is
well spent.
The last time I crossed this bridge was in the fall of 1968.
I wouldn't mind having an opportunity to cross that bridge again this time
by foot. Go for it!!!!!.
Noel Weaver

I always have to laugh hysterically when some gentle soul from upstate New York whines, "Where are we going to get the money from?". It's a fair wager that 99% of the people posing the question suddenly go deaf, dumb, and blind regarding the overwhelmingly larger amount of funds we are hemorrhaging daily on our current misadventures abroad. The $30 Mill for the rail-trail on the bridge is a drop in the bucket by comparison. And unlike our so-called war on terrorism we're actually going to see concrete returns on our investment from the bridge project and its connections with rail trails leading to Hopewell Jct and New Paltz (and Kingston, hopefully, if Ulster Co. can get its act together). There are very real economic multiplier effects from rail trail projects all over the country providing tax revenues from sources like bike rentals, restaurants, lodging, to cite but a few. Meanwhile, where's all the cheap oil we're supposed to be getting now that we own Iraq and Afghanistan?

Alright Mark, that was a cheap personal shot. I'm not necessarily whining, I'm saying NY has hundreds of these projects. Where does it end? When do we taxpayers finally say "enough is enough"?. There is no way a $50 million dollar investment in this bridge is going to be returned by rail trail economic development. How many bikes do you have to rent to get that money back? If it's a case of "it's cheaper to keep 'er", I'll accept that but to say it will draw tourism to support itself seems a stretch.

And for the record, NY spending and US spending are two different things. I won't even get started on the war or Federal Government spending.

You smug downstaters have no clue how the asinine legislation and resulting taxes your city politicians create has hamstrung and crippled the upstate region. To you we are a bunch of "whining" hill billy's. Meanwhile, businesses and people are fleeing this region due to stupidly high taxes and few job opportunities.

At steel( yes part of bridge is iron) being over $200 per ton a few mexicans with blow torches can actually make money for New York state.
No matter what it cost to dismantle the bridge the state taxpayers pay it now, or pay it 10 x in future but sooner or later it will have to come down.
This whole bridge walkway is a waste, $8 million for how many people a year to walk a bridge ???

Personally im all for the bridge!
I think its a great idea..and many who are against it will probably change their minds when they have a chance to walk out on to it.

I had that chance in 1994, soon after the project started up.
it was amazing!

and the money? 8 million?
please..that is nothing.

(Scot heads over to google..hold on)
ok, NY state has a budget of 121.7 billion,
that is 121,700,000,000 dollars.
8 million is 8,000,000 dollars.

So 8 million is 0.007% of the budget.

Taking that to a household budget..lets say $50,000 just to make up a number..that would be the same as spending $3.50 a YEAR on something.

So in real dollar terms..complaining about the money spent on the bridge is the same as complaining if your kids spend $3.50 once a year at McDonalds..

We all know NY state is a disaster when it comes to spending and taxes..
but $8 million for this bridge? totally worth it...
IMO, it is by far the best thing the state could do with such a small amount of money..I consider it GOOD and worthwile spending, compared to the millions wasted on other things..

Scot

It's been a bridge to no where since 1974. Since I can't cite my source for the $50 million removal estimate, I withdraw it. It was only one estimate relayed to me in coversation, but since I don't have a source to point to, I wont use it in this discussion. Let's just say I'm under the impression it would cost far more to dismantle the bridge than it does to maintain it. And who says NYS would get the revenue from scrapping? Does the state own the bridge?

-otto-

I would suggest that a fair number of the posting people on here now
have not experienced crossing this brildge whether by train or by foot.
It is something that you HAVE to experience in order to appreciate.
I have slides taken from the Budd Car on the trip that I set up in Sept.,
1968. This was the last time that I crossed this bridge and in previous
trips, I never bothered to bring a camera with me.
New York State has wasted money over the years on things that ended up
with nothing to show for the money spent. At least with this they will end
up with something that they can be proud of. It will, along with other
things, be a great tourist draw for the region.
Noel Weaver