RIVER ACCESS HEARING RECORD REMAINS OPEN

Mike McCagg

ccSCOOP News

05-26-10- 10:00 a.m. - No work will be undertaken on railroad crossing upgrades on Ice House or Ferry roads in Stuyvesant until an administrative law judge issues a recommendation on the future of Ferry Road. That decision won’t come until at least the end of the summer since the public comment period of a public hearing conducted earlier this month on the more than decade-long battle between state agencies and town residents remains open.

“The record [hearing] closing is expected to be June 11, but it could be further extended at the public's request,” said NYS Department of Transportation (DOT) spokeswoman Carol Breen. “Once it is closed, the judge will issue a recommendation to our commissioner within approximately six weeks,” she added. Those interested in submitting comment for Judge Peter Loomis for the record can do so by mailing it to NYSDOT, attention Peter Loomis, Administrative Law Judge, 50 Wolf Road, Albany, NY 12232. In the meantime, Breen said, no construction work can be done on Ice House Road, where the DOT plans to upgrade the safety devices from passive to active, including a gated crossing, flashing lights, and the latest in warning devices.

Ice House and Ferry roads are connected in the state's thinking and are part of the larger issue of access to the river, access to five historic structures on Ferry Road, and railroad safety. The May 12 DOT hearing was the result of the award of more than $2 million in federal ARRA stimulus funds to improve the safety of rail crossings between New York City and Albany, including the Ice House Road and Ferry Road crossings off of Route 9J in Stuyvesant.

The awarding of the funds—and the subsequent attention being paid to the crossings by the state—has raised concern among town residents, who have mounted a two-decade-old battle with the state to improve river access. During that battle, DOT officials have sought to limit use of—or eliminate altogether—the grade-level railroad crossings where the railorad runs close and parallel to Route 9J.

A plan to close Ferry Road and build a connector road from Ice House Road was the subject of a memorandum of understanding reached in 1995 between New York State and the Town of Stuyvesant, but that agreement fell apart because of NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) concerns about building a connector road through a designated wetland. During the hearing, DEC officials restated their opposition to a connector road but backed other potential safety upgrades that would allow the Ferry Road crossing to remain open. That is in part because of the access Ferry Road provides to the Hudson River, where kayaks and car-top boats can be launched.As to Ice House Road improvements, although construction activities cannot begin before the decision, Breen said final design activities are underway.

Town residents, including Ferry Road resident John Hutchinson, have raised concerns the state would close the crossing and claim their properties through eminent domain. They claim doing so would cut off vital river access and eliminate historic properties on Ferry Road. Two of the homes on the road are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

State officials maintain that the Ferry and Ice House road crossing, in their present state, are unsafe and could cause a disastrous accident. During a hearing, state officials claimed the speed of the twenty-nine trains that use those tracks each day could lead to a derailment and potential loss of life if one of those trains struck a larger vehicle attempting to cross the tracks on those roads.

The administrative law judge is expected to make a recommendation on how DOT should proceed, taking into account the concern for public access and environmental and safety issues.