Trail supporters in New York state are pushing for completion of the Erie Canalway Trail.
Originally completed in 1825 to carry commerce from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, the canal is now the focus of lively towns along its path trying to lure tourism dollars to their communities.
Some 260 miles of bike trails (officially multi-use trails) run through the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor, which includes the Erie, as well as other historic canals in upstate New York.
Eventually, 366 miles of bike trails are planned between Albany and Buffalo.
Ready to build
There are six projects ready to go that can add another 40 or so miles; but they all need funding.
Robin Dropkin, executive director of Parks & Trails New York, writes in the Times-Union that two of the trail sections already have enough federal funds to cover almost 90 percent of the cost of construction.
Dropkin says that the canal is a huge draw for tourism to the state.
For instance, an annual bicycle tour, Cycling the Erie Canal draws 500 bicyclists to New York every year, two-thirds from out of state. The 400-mile bike ride from Albany to Buffalo is split between the canal bike path and low-traffic roads. It rolls out this year from July 12-19.
Bicycling
Dropkin writes about the contributions of bicyclists to local economies along the canalway trails:
“Informal surveys have found that bicycle tourists from outside the immediate area spend up to $250 a person a day. Thus just one party of six spending 10 days on the trail would bring an infusion of up to $15,000 into upstate businesses and communities.”
The University of Albany and Cornell University are preparing an economic impact report on tourism in the Erie Canalway based on surveys conducted in 2008. I'm sure the results will help motivate decision-makers to support expansion of bicycling trails in this historic corridor.
Stimulus
That may already be happening. New York state is seeking $1.5 billion for state Department of Transportation projects in the economic stimulus package. Of that, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign reports that “at least $51 milllion would got to bike/ped projects, with the main beneficiaries being the Bronx River Greenway and the upstate Erie Canalway Trail.”
The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor comprises 524 miles of waterway in New York, including the Erie, Champlain, Oswego and the Cayuga-Seneca canals.
The trails includes the 100-mile Erie Canal Heritage Trail in western New York, the 36-mile Old Erie Canal State Park Trail in Central New York, the 60-mile Mohawk-Hudson Bikeway in the eastern Capital Region, and the 8-mile Glen Falls Feeder Canal Trail near Lake George, as well as other segments.
More information is available at the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor website. You can check out the downloadable maps that show the many small and large historic towns that the canals pass through.
A guidebook on the Erie Canal also is available from Parks & Trails New York.
Photo above by Drew Ettinger at flickr.com
Recent Comments