RIVER ACCESS BATTLE HEATS UP AGAIN IN STUYVESANT

Mike McCagg

ccSCOOP News

04-10-10 - 3:45 p.m. - The nearly two-decade-old search for a solution to the question of how to bring high speed rail to New York State while assuring river access in the Nutten Hook section of Stuyvesant is about to begin anew. And while the only action that has so far taken place is a preliminary meeting between state officials and Supervisor Valerie Bertram, some residents are already raising concerns that the solution the state will ultimately seek is the closure of Ferry Road and the demolition of the properties on it.

The NYS Department of Transportation, which is in the design stages of a project, will seek public comment on how to ensure safe access to Ferry and Ice House roads, while also allowing trains to travel along the Hudson River at speeds higher than they currently reach. Both roads cross the Albany-New York City stretch of rail just after leaving Route 9J. “My guess is that we will get the public process started pretty soon,” Richard Peters, Regional Planning and Program Manager for the Department of Transportation, told ccSCOOP, adding, “This is going to be a long and trying process as we address all of the concerns . . . and try to meet all of the regulatory issues.”

Town residents and the State have been discussing for nearly two decades what to do with the two roads. The Town has sought improved river access, while Department of Transportation officials have sought to limit use of—or eliminate altogether—the “at-grade” railroad crossings. One plan, which would involve closing the Ferry Road crossing and building an access road to Ferry Road from Ice House Road, was the subject of a memorandum of understanding reached between the State and the Town of Stuyvesant in 1995. However, that agreement fell apart because of concerns the NYS Department of Environment Conservation raised about building a connector road through areas designated as wetlands.

The proposal would have seen less than one acre of wetlands disturbed and the disturbance of those wetlands would have been mitigated by the creation of an acre of wetlands elsewhere, Bertram noted.

Peters said the safety issues arose again this year as a result of the new push to create high-speed rail access between New York City and Niagara Falls—a push that resulted in federal stimulus money being allocated to upgrade the Ice House Road crossing and others in the area and beyond. The upgrades will include gates and warning lights on Ice House Road, a long with a “re-profiled” crossing and greater public access further down Ice House Road. Additionally, track circuits are being changed at Ferry Road, but the change would very likely not be noticeable to the public.

The stimulus project, Peters said, led the State to revisit the crossings at Ferry and Ice House roads. He stressed that any work done on Ferry Road itself would be a separate project from any the stimulus-funded project.

“The Ferry Road crossing has been sitting out there for years. Nobody is happy with it the way it is because of the short distance between the railroad crossing and 9J, which can leave your [vehicle’s] rear end on the tracks or on 9J if you have anything bigger than a passenger car,” Peters said.

The “very public process” will review the “null alternative—leave Ferry Road as it is,” as well as other alternatives that include building a bridge across the tracks at Ferry Road and building a connector road between Ice House and Ferry Road that will avoid the DEC-protected wetlands.

“We will go through all of the alternatives that everyone can think of,” Peters said. “Hopefully, we can come up with some kind of solution that everyone can live with."

In the meantime, Peters said his agency is slated to appear before an administrative law judge later this month to discuss the a 1996 ruling that stated the Ferry Road crossing must be closed because of its inherent safety risks. Peters said DOT lawyers will inform the judge that the Ice House Road crossing will be addressed with the stimulus funding project and that DOT is re-examining its options with the public on the Ferry Road crossing. An amendment to that 1996 ruling, added in 2006, states that the road would not be closed until a connector road was built between Ferry and Ice House roads.

But Bertram told ccSCOOP on Tuesday, April 6, that DEC officials stated at a meeting last month that “a connector road won’t be built because of the wetlands,” and she is concerned the 2006 amendment will be eliminated.

“That’s the first time they have said it so blatantly,” Bertram said. “I notified the residents of Ferry Road [of this] because this is something they have feared for many, many years. They are fearful that their homes are going to be taken.”

Ferry Road resident John Hutchinson said he is hopeful that the State will find a "practical engineering solution" to the situation when they realize the potential loss that could be sustained by closing the road. “If they [DOT officials] are really talking about alternatives, that would be great to hear. But every time an alternative is proposed, they knock it down,” Hutchinson said.

Among the alternatives Hutchinson and others have suggested is a traffic light on Route 9J that turns red only when a vehicle approaches from Ferry Road. That would alleviate concerns that a car or truck could get stuck on the crossing when a train is approaching. He said DOT officials— despite having such a light already in place in on Route 9J in Castleton—dismissed the traffic signal as too costly and inappropriate for 9J.

“I think Nutten Hook could be a great historical gem,” said Hutchinson, who is a location scout for movie productions. “This could be a home run for people interested in heritage, . . . and now these guys are coming along and this could all be leveled.”