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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Porr urges light rail to link Stewart to Beacon MTA station
By KATELYN CORDERO
[email protected]
Orange County residents met in
Kaplan Hall on the Orange County
Community College Newburgh Campus
to discuss transportation in the area.
Many speakers came to the microphone
to air complaints and concerns about the
public transportation provided by Orange
County for the City of Newburgh.
The public hearing on the Orange
County Comprehensive Plan updates was
held on February 27. The proposal is
to replace the previous plan from 2003
entirely. The new plan will include
transportation unlike previous plans.
Members of the community came to
the microphone to speak up about the
poor condition of transportation in the
City of Newburgh.
Margaret Sanchez stood up to speak
about the challenges of riding the bus
with disabilities.
“You have two buses in service that
I can’t even get on with my disabilities,”
said Sanchez. “There are a lot of people
that take the buses they have baby
carriages they have challenges. If I want
to get home from the Beacon train station
on the weekend I have to walk over the
Newburgh-Beacon bridge, because I don’t
have the funds to take a taxi.”
David
Church,
Planning
Commissioner, said he would look into
the buses that are causing issues. That is
something he can deal with immediately
in comparison to some of the larger issues
mentioned by residents.
“I have to comment that most regular
bus riders do not get on at the current
bus terminal or Park and Ride. It simply
is not convenient for most as you need
transportation to there thus making it an
unrealistic walk for most,” said Marianne
Marichal. “I am asking you to please
consider extending bus service both
locally in Newburgh and with the Beacon-
Newburgh Airport Shuttle. It provides
transportation to and from work for so
many and with extended service, would
open up badly needed work options. I
would gladly pay more for both services.”
When it comes to the the bus terminal
Church admits this is going to be a long
term solution the county will have to find.
He suggested speaking with property
owners on Broadway to find a temporary
fix to the issues people face.
“We know about the gaps in service,
we’re just starting to get aware of this
reliability question,” said Church. “I’ve
had staff start riding the buses to get first
hand experience with what’s going on. A
bigger project is the bus system, the hub
on 17K, that’s where all the buses in the
region connect. To move that to connect
downtown, that’s going to take more time.
That’s not something I can do this week.
Maybe there’s a short way to work with
the property owners to work with us
on something until we can get a more
permanent solution.”
Acting Orange County Executive,
Harry Porr, also came to the microphone
to suggest including a light rail to connect
Stewart Airport to the Beacon Train
Station. The idea is one he has been
talking about for years when he was City
Manager for Newburgh.
“The idea is basically how do you get
from Stewart to the city of Newburgh as
efficiently as possible,” said Porr. “What
we discussed at that time was to have
a light rail system be in at the Stewart
Airport, run down 17K and Broadway
and down Colden St across the Newburgh
Beacon Bridge to the train station in
Beacon. The benefit of that would be a one
seat ride to grand central. It would create
all the real estate gold on Broadway.”
The comprehensive plan includes
broad plans for transportation, there are
no specific ways in which the plan will
improve transit, specifically in Newburgh.
“The plan we wrote is more of a concept
plan,” said Church. “It doesn’t have
specific projects we are working on. The
real lesson is there are immediate needs.
We need to move from this broad brush
general plan fairly quickly to address
people’s specific needs.”
City’s transportation committee resurrected
By KATELYN CORDERO
[email protected]
After staying dormant for almost a decade the
Transportation Committee is up and running in full force.
Over the past six months, the Transportation Advisory
Committee has been hard at work to understand and
address concerns of the community.
Councilman Anthony Grice ran his campaign on
improving transportation in the City of Newburgh,
starting the committee was one of his initiatives to get
work done on transportation in the city.
“It was one of my first initiatives when I first got on,”
said Grice. “It’s hard to get a resolution and a committee
started so I was very happy and very surprised to get it up
and running so well. We have dedicated smart wonderful
people who really have an ear for the community. People
have complained because the county controls some our
transportation and in the past it has not reflected the
community’s needs. But we are in a different situation
than in the past and a better situation than in the past.”
The priorities of the transportation committee include
walkability, bikes and skateboards, bus transit, ferry
transit, cars, parking and connections between the city
and Stewart Airport.
According to Chairman Gabriel Berlin, the biggest
priority for the committee right now is updating the bus
network.
“The main focus right now is the bus network,” said
Berlin. “We’ve been riding the buses, testing out the
routes, talking to bus riders and seeing what their
experiences have been. We have been trying to increase
bus ridership, consistency and awareness about its
routes.”
The committee shared a survey online and with various
organizations to get an understanding of how people feel
about the bus network in the City of Newburgh. The
network is maintained and controlled by Orange County,
so the committee is working with representatives from
Orange County to see what can be done.
“Our main goal is outreach and collecting data so we
can have outreach recommendations,” said Berlin. “The
six months so far has been getting an idea of the needs
of the community, the city, and the challenges they need
addressed. Then we can build actions the city and we can
take.”
The committee has been hard at work getting public
opinion on every initiative they work on. One initiative
is putting in parking meters on a section of Liberty St.
Naomi Hersson-Ringskog, a member of the committee,
reached out to business owners on Liberty St to see what
type of parking would be acceptable for their business
owners as a whole. She reported back at the most recent
meeting to share her findings and recommendations.
The committee has been meeting with department
heads of the city to get an idea of what priorities they
have and how they can help. Part of that has been
helping the Department of Public Works by creating an
education campaign for residents to understand parking
during a snow emergency. When residents understand
the parking and follow the parking DPW can clear the
roads with ease.
The group is also pursuing various grants to get
funding for some of the projects they would like to see
done to make Newburgh a green and walkable city. They
have been working with Jessica Ridgeway, a Planner in
Orange County, on a Complete Streets Initiative. This
means the streets are designed in a way to ensure safety
of all users, regardless of age, disability, or mode of
transportation.
They are also looking to apply for the Climate Smart
Communities Certification (CSC) which will open the
door for technical assistance, and access to grants from
New York State. The group is searching for funding for
an electric vehicle charging station in the city, to meet the
qualifications needed for the CSC.
“Our biggest efforts and challenges is community
outreach,” said Berlin. “We are trying to listen to the
community and have interdepartmental communication
in the city where our needs and goals overlap. We are
trying to get more information to the public so they are
being informed or being given the proper background on
something.”
To see what the Transportation Committee has been up
to, or to take their survey you can visit their Facebook at
Newburgh Transportation Committee Announcements.
Monthly meetings are held on the second Wednesday of
each month at 123 Grand St. For further information you
can email, [email protected].