To the Editorial Team: Raleigh Green's recent column on rail with trail reveals some gaps in his knowledge of the topics. Trail development took a long time to take root in this country, state and local area. Once the notion of trails gained traction the overarching primary goal was to build out the spine of the network. The next step was to build the ribs to connect the spine to the residential, business, and government destinations that residents and tourists need. A look at the incremental development nationally and locally makes this very clear.

Ulster County's public policy was set a decade ago for the Ulster & Delaware corridor. That policy preserves trail connectivity from the Ashokan Rail Trail to Kingston. That policy took years and thousands of hours of combined thoughtful effort, by multiple legislature bodies, to develop and be codified. "Rail Only" on the U&D corridor between the Ashokan Rail Trail and Kingston violates that policy, period.

Regarding funding, make no mistake, CMRR has fed at the public trough for decades to the tune of many millions of dollars in the form of controlled road crossings and related maintenance. The grants they "secured" in recent years were suspended for cause — they made those applications without county approval or participation and the applications were misleading in that regard. Not to mention the $4.5 million in track restoration they failed to perform — this based on their numbers for the value of track restoration and the number of miles they did not restore under their leases. The county also incurred losses due to the neglect CMRR bestowed on the U&D corridor. These losses took the form of significant corridor repair costs and trail re-routes due to drainage failures and lack of vegetation management on the U&D. There was also the high legal costs incurred by the county to deal with CMRR. In these contexts the rent they pay is grossly inadequate. CMRR as a business is currently successful after decades of marginal performance. As such, their predicted doom without expansion would have to be a self-fulfilling prophecy for CMRR to fail now.

We've come a very long way since Rails to Trails Conservancy was formed in 1986. Rails to Trails reports that there are over 42,500 miles of rail trails in the U.S. now. In 1986, I found no rail trails, or canalway trails, on a 3,100+ mile bicycle trip from as far south as Key West, Fla. and points in between to Kingston. Over the years while bicycle touring, I rode on everything from single track paths, to built out trails, to local streets, to 75 mph highways ... often because there was no other viable route. Compare that to my 2022 bicycle tour on which I rode most of a 1,200-mile bicycle trip on rail trails and canalway trails. However, there were major gaps in connectivity between those trails that put me on surface streets and highways with motor vehicle traffic.

In the coming weeks Ulster County has an opportunity to take another step forward in incrementally eliminating such gaps. This by approving trail development in the segment of the U&D between Basin Rd. and Route 28A. This is the next step towards completing the spine and building the ribs that Green incorrectly believes have been ignored.

John Grossbohlin

Veteran Long Distance Bicycle Tourist

Retired Chair, City of Kingston, Complete Street Advisory Council

Kingston