Posts Tagged ‘transportation’

Thursday, December 3, 2020

Adirondack roads get $32.5M facelift

$18.5 Million Resurfacing Project on Route 28 in Hamilton County from Eagle Bay to Blue Mountain Lake Enhances Safety and Supports Tourism 

Additional Projects Totaling $14 Million Resurface 172 Lane Miles of Pavement in St. Lawrence, Franklin and Clinton Counties   

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced the completion of a series of roadway resurfacing projects totaling $32.5 million throughout the North Country. The projects were led by the Department of Transportation and consisted of the resurfacing of a 25.4 mile stretch of State Route 28 from Eagle Bay to Blue Mountain Lake in Hamilton Country. This section of Route 28 is part of the Central Adirondack Trail Scenic Byway and connects many popular areas for recreation and tourism. 172 lane miles of pavement on 20 state highways in St. Lawrence, Franklin, and Clinton counties were also restored due to a $14 million investment.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, March 16, 2020

High Peaks Shuttles: Visitor Needs and Resource Protection

Blueberry Mountain Trail signPeter Bauer’s recent article arguing that the State is facilitating unlimited access to the High Peaks raised some interesting points. Among those points was the idea that shuttle buses for hikers will result in potentially unprecedented usage levels of already popular hiking trails. This jibes with concerns I have heard from others that shuttles will lead to even greater activity in the High Peaks, when instead we should be limiting access to protect the Wilderness. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Viewpoint: State Facilitating Unlimited Access to High Peaks

It seems pretty clear at this point that the state agencies that manage the High Peaks Wilderness Area, and adjacent Wilderness areas, are not interested in limiting public use.

The state is investing in new parking areas, new hiking trails, and a new hiker transportation system that are all designed to facilitate ever-higher levels of public use in the High Peaks, not limit it.

Consider the change underway at Cascade Mountain.

» Continue Reading.


Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Long Lake Offering Leap Day ‘Little Bus’ Adventures

Long Lake Little BusThe Long Lake “Little Bus” is set to run in Long Lake on Saturday, February 29th, from 5 pm to midnight.

The public is invited to take free rides on the little bus to The Geiger Arena and Mt. Sabattis for a family night of ice skating, sledding, and a bonfire under the stars, or visits to one or more of the community’s dining establishments. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, February 20, 2020

Local Clean Energy Transportation Summit Planned

electric car charges at a downtown Saranac Lake EV charging station provided by ANCAIn his State of State address on January 9, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo committed to advancing New York State’s clean transportation sector and expanding its electric vehicle industry.

In response, the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) is convening experts and stakeholders to develop a clean transportation roadmap for the North Country. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, February 19, 2020

National Parks Offer Models For High Peaks Hiker Issues

Trails in need mapKeene town officials and volunteers working on ways to better handle the expected overload of hikers this summer and fall are looking to learn from other popular destinations around the country.

On Monday, St. Lawrence University Professor Pete Pettingill, an expert on the subject, will present some case studies from National Parks in Keene. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, January 12, 2020

Viewpoint: Convert Hudson River Rails to Multi-Use Trail

Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates riding an area near Lake Colby in 2013

Yes, build the Hudson River bike trail from North Creek to Saratoga Springs. Build it, and they will come. They did not come for the ill-fated commuter trains, snow train, tourist trains or rail service that was going to haul millions of tons of aggregate from the Tahawus Mine in Newcomb. A groundswell of support is emerging for the transition of the dormant 55-mile-long Saratoga and North Creek Railway to the new Hudson River bike trail.

A new public trail from Saratoga Springs to North Creek would connect dozens of small communities such as Corinth, Lake Luzerne, Hadley, Stony Creek, Thurman, Athol, The Glen, Warrensburg, and Riparius among other hamlets and businesses along the rail line. Such a trail would be very popular and heavily used. As we’ve seen with the Warren County Bike Trail between Lake George and Glens Falls, businesses would gravitate to the trail. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Viewpoint: Tearing Out Railroads Is Not Progress

Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates riding an area near Lake Colby in 2013

I’ve ridden on the rail corridor between Saratoga Springs and North Creek several times over the years, including the last run to North Creek with a dome car. The scenery is beautiful, especially from the high bridge at Hadley. The views along the river are splendid. Those who have never done it by train will never know what they’re missing. I wish I could have ridden it to Tahawus.

Some argue the railroad must go because it can’t pay for itself. The reason for that is that we spent the 20th century building highways at taxpayer expense; we subsidize everything that competes with rail while still expecting it to make money. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, November 21, 2019

Viewpoint: Make Saratoga & North Creek Line A Hudson River Bike Trail

section of the Tahawus Railroad north of Route 28N in Minerva provided by Protect the AdirondacksWhat follows is an announcement sent to the press by Adirondack Forest Preserve advocates Protect the Adirondacks:

Protect the Adirondacks supports transition of the 55-mile-long Saratoga and North Creek Railway to a new public multi-use recreation trail. Given its location, the dominant use would be as a bike and walking trail. This new public trail from Saratoga Springs to North Creek would connect dozens of small communities such as Lake Luzerne, Hadley, Stony Creek, Thurman, Riparius, The Glen, and Warrensburg, among other hamlets and businesses, along the rail line. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Twitchell Lake Settlement and the Carthage to Crown Point Road

Map Showing Twitchell Creek in the 1870s provided by Adirondack AtlasEver wonder how one of the hundreds of lakes and ponds in the Adirondack Mountains got its name? Around Brown’s Tract, there are lakes named from nature such as Loon, Beaver, Trout, Gull, Bear, and Moose.  There are also a dozen or more lakes named for noted guides or people who lived in or frequented the area during the Sporting Era (1860 to 1890), including Mosier, Francis, Hitchcock, Beach, Tuttle, Thayer, Smith, Salmon, and Wood.

An Adirondack historian who knew some of the nineteenth century Beaver River and Fulton Chain guides, Joseph F. Grady, reported in his 1933 history of the Fulton Chain and Big Moose region that Twitchell Lake  “derives its name from Charles Twitchell, an amateur sportsman of Lewis County, who frequented its shores in the mid-century period [the mid-1800s].”

It turns out, that’s not true. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Myths About Adirondack Military Roads

cannon abandoned in 1776 by Sir John JohnsonDuring a recent discussion concerning pre-Civil War roads in the Adirondacks I mentioned to a friend that I am amazed by the number of people who insist on calling certain roads “Old Military Roads” even though they never had a military purpose.

My friend told me he heard that a hunter once found the remains of an old cannon somewhere near Terror Lake deep in the Pigeon Lake Wilderness. His point, I think, was that the cannon must have been abandoned in the course of some American military expedition along a long-vanished woods road. » Continue Reading.


Monday, June 24, 2019

AsRA Gets $175k Grant For Road Salt Pollution

Mirror Lake Scientist provided by AsRAThis month, the Ausable River Association (AsRA) was awarded a $175,000 grant by the Lake Champlain Basin Program to advance effective, science-based approaches to reducing road salt impacts to Mirror Lake. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, June 20, 2019

EV Chargers Now in Keene; Plans Floated for Marcy Field, Route 73

elelctric car

Two Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations have been installed on the Route 73 corridor: one in the hamlet of Keene, the other in Keene Valley.

Both are easy to use and have industry standard Level 2 chargers that support virtually any EV on the road today – users need only to plug in. There is a donation box at each charger to cover electricity costs. The requested donation is about the equivalent of $1.00 per gallon of gasoline. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, June 19, 2019

A Short History of the Tire Dump

Assorted new automotive road tiresOne of the mantras for waste reduction and energy efficiency is the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” slogan, which indicates the order of preference for resource conservation: It’s best to use fewer things in the first place, but once you got ‘em you may as well reuse them. In the end, though, it’s better they get recycled than chucked in a landfill. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Horse and Carriage Blocks Had Many Uses (Conclusion)

Because of their intended function, horse blocks were accessible to anyone and there was no reason to guard them — except for one night of the year. Pranksters annually targeted them in several ways on Halloween: flipping them if they were too heavy to carry off, piling several on the property of an unsuspecting owner, or placing them in unusual locations, like in the middle of road intersections.

A drastic change in transportation technology — the automobile — marked the beginning of the end for horse travel and several related items that were present just about everywhere: horse blocks, hitching posts, and watering troughs. Progress required the removal of many horse blocks, which had become obstructions to pedestrians and were frequently struck by cars, sometimes causing fatalities. (Driving skills were seriously lacking early on, and there were few regulations, so accidents were common.) » Continue Reading.



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