July 8, 2003
SECTION BY SECTION, RIVERWALK ON ITS WAY TO BECOMING A REALITY Spano
to give overview of Yonkers-Cortlandt trailway project Wednesday in Croton
Three years ago County Executive Andy
Spano first articulated his vision for a RiverWalk along the Hudson River that
would go from the New York City line to the Putnam County line.
Piece by piece, parcel by parcel, Spano’s idea is becoming a
reality. On Wednesday, July 9, Spano
will visit Croton and show off sections of the walk
that have been constructed with the help of the village and a private
developer, Spectrum Communities. As part of the Croton project, four units of
affordable housing for seniors have also been built, and these will also be
showcased at the event.
The press
conference will take place at 10:30 a.m. starting at Discovery Cove at
“It really is exciting to see the RiverWalk as it becomes a
reality,” he said. “It is hard work getting each piece into place, because
different sections belong to different owners, public, private and not-for-profit.
But we have been able to bring these parties together to open riverfront space
to the public. Our work with Spectrum and Croton is a great example of how the
county, a municipality and a private company can work together to benefit
everyone.”
Spano likened the project to the one embarked upon in the
county in the 1980s and 1990s – and now about completed – to build trailways
along the right-of way of the old Putnam Railroad. “So many
of our residents enjoy our
This latest 1/2-mile stretch in
Croton, for example, was built and paid for by Spectrum in return for the
county giving Spectrum emergency use of roads through nearby
In addition, a four-way partnership
between the county, the village, Spectrum and Croton Housing Network led to the
construction of the
four affordable rental units. The
network, a
local non-profit group, purchased the units with the assistance of federal HOME
funds administered by
Croton Mayor
Robert Elliott and Mitchell C. Hochberg, president and CEO of Spectrum
Communities, praised
the cooperative effort that is making the latest sections of RiverWalk
possible.
“On behalf
of all the citizens of Croton-on-Hudson, we applaud Spectrum Communities, Metro-North
Railroad and
Hochberg said, “We are very pleased and
gratified to collaborate with the
Metro-North,
which has granted a right-of-way for the project, also praised the effort. “Metro-North
intends to be a good neighbor,” said Peter A. Cannito, president of the MTA
Metro-North Railroad. “By use of the western edge of the Harmon Rail Yard, the
village, the county and all New Yorkers will benefit from the link between two
beautiful
RiverWalk was first proposed by Spano three years ago. Here is a
summary of the project to date:
CROTON SECTIONS OF RIVERWALK
Of the 46 miles of
trails that will make up RiverWalk, approximately eight miles will be located
along the
Below are descriptions of the pieces of the trail within the
Village. They are all in various stages of completion, construction or
planning. The segments within the
village are also a good example of the variety of ownership, funding, staging,
and partnerships which are necessary to make such a complex effort a reality:
Length: 1.5 miles
Status:
Funding Source:
NYS Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act
Length: 0.6 miles
Status: In design
Funding Source:
Status: Complete
Funding
Source: Village of Croton-on-Hudson, Open Space Institute, Westchester County
Community Development Block Grant funds, New York State Environmental Protection
Fund Grant, New York State Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act funds, Hudson River
Foundation.
Length: 0.15 miles
Status: Planned
Funding: To be
determined
Length: 0.35 miles
Status: Under
construction
Funding Source:
Metro North, Section 1010 of Federal ISTEA Program, Federal TIP.
Length: 0.625 miles
Status: Under
construction
Funding Source:
Spectrum Communities
Length: 0.35 miles
Status: In
planning
Funding Source:
Spectrum Communities
Length: 3.0 miles
Status: Existing
& planned improvements
Funding Source:
Length: 0.4 miles
Status: Complete
Funding Source:
Metro North, New York State Department of Transportation
Length: 1.0 miles
Status: complete
Funding Source:
New York State Department of Transportation
OTHER PARCELS OF RIVERWALK OUTSIDE CROTON
Status: Under Construction
Status: In Preliminary Design
Status: Complete
·
RiverWalk Trail Connection Between
Status: In Design
Status: In Design
Status: In Design
·
Status: In Design
Status: Feasibility Study
Status: Feasibility Study
Status: Recently Acquired by
Status: Portions In Design and Under Construction
Status: Complete
Status: Acquisition Underway, Design to proceed 2003
Status: Under Construction
Status: Under Construction
Status: Portions Complete and Under Construction